Deal with the Devil
by the-vampire-act
Summary: Eventual Foyet/Reid.Foyet looks to Reid for a victim to start his killing spree, but he ends up with much more than he bargained for. And as the BAU team reopens his case, repercussions are sure to follow-for everyone.
1. The First Promise

**Will be Foyet/Reid eventually, yee be warned. This probably won't make much sense if you haven't watched Omnivore, as some parts are taken directly from it, and the first handful of chapters tie in directly to that episode.**

**Deal with the Devil- Chapter 1**

**The First Promise**

SSA Dr. Spencer Reid thought that he'd never fall in love, at least not a first sight, anyways. But as he stared off at the history aisle of the bookstore, Spencer couldn't help but grin. The man easily grinned back at him with sensitive eyes but yet held a worn and torn look to him. Spencer's eyes darted back down to his book when the man started walking over to his side of the building. Trying to act as though he hadn't just been staring off at him, his eyes quickly scanned back over the book pages, effortlessly reading them in a distinct pattern.

"I couldn't help but ask…Can you actually read that fast?" he smiled, amused. "It takes me forever to read, so you can imagine how jealous I am right now," he smirked.

"Well, there's nothing to be jealous of," Spencer blushed. "It may be nice, but it does get the line 'can you do me a small favor' an awful lot." Feeling like a schoolgirl talking to her crush, Spencer briskly moved his fingers so they could stop the spare piece of hair from falling in his face. 'I probably sound like an idiot. I bet he's not interested in me, anyways,' he thought.

"Oh? Well, what field of work are you in?" the strange but charming man asked. "Er, well, I guess we should start with names," he laughed, sensing Spencer's uneasiness.

"Ah, yeah," Spencer nodded. "Spencer Reid."

"John Miles," he replied, extending his hand.

Smiling, Spencer mimicked the action and inwardly giggled. 'See? He's not a stranger anymore.'

"So Spencer, do you want to get some coffee with me?" John smiled charmingly.

"Of course."

~* DWTD *~

His name- of course-wasn't John Miles, and he-of course-already knew all about Spencer Reid. As the man walked into Spencer's apartment, he almost felt sad. It would be a great comeback for him, though. Killing an agent would definitely get him the right kind of attention, but still…

'No,' he thought, 'I can't yet; it's not time.'

"Thanks for the coffee." Spencer's voice broke through his thoughts, and he forced a smile on his face as he sat down opposite of the younger man. He drew his knees up to his chest, 'John' noted, and he immediately frowned.

"Is something wrong?" he asked Spencer.

"Ah, no, sorry. Nervous tick, I guess." The lie was obvious even to someone who wasn't a profiler, and 'John' immediately caught on to it. Sensing he'd been outed, Reid sighed, knowing that he'd have to give him something to work with as an excuse. "I'm sorry, I've just never done this before…."

"Done what?" 'John' frowned.

"Let a stranger into my apartment on a whim," Reid mumbled quietly.

John placed a supportive hand on Reid's knee comfortingly. "I won't make you regret it, I promise." Spencer smiled shyly at him, trying not to squirm underneath the man's touch.

"I'd like to trust you," Reid admitted, "but I don't know if I can."

The sadness in his eyes, the quiet desperation seeping out of those big brown eyes made John realize that he couldn't kill Reid tonight. He needed to gain his trust first, and it was clear that he didn't currently have that. There was something different about his latest victim that made him unlike his other ones. No, something was truly unique about this one, and he was determined to find out what it was.

"Uhm, well, it's getting late and-"

"It's not even eight, Spencer," John frowned., "but if you'd like me to leave, I'd be glad to." John watched Spencer bite down on his lip, obviously nervous about asking him to leave. He knew that it was what he wanted, though, and since he did have to gain his trust, he nodded and stood up. "It was great meeting you, Spencer. I hope… I hope that we can run into each other again." John smiled charmingly, extending his hand to Spencer for a second time that day. With nervous and shaky hands, Spencer returned the welcoming and slid something into John's hand.

"Call me, and we won't have to run into each other," he smiled back. "Good night, John."

John resisted the urge to kiss Spencer before walking out the door, snickering in his head. 'Check… and mate.'

~* DWTD *~

_Two Days Later….South Boston, Massachusetts_

SSA Aaron Hotchner stepped inside the small house and down next to Tom Shaunessy. The man seemed almost relieved to see him, and that alone was enough to scare him. If he hadn't understood the seriousness of the situation to begin with, Hotch surely did when the man continued to talk.

Tom's eyes scanned over to the clippings on the wall about the Boston reaper case. Unnecessarily, he asked, "You remember that case?"

"Yeah, of course. It was my first case working as section leader for the BAU," Hotch frowned. "You sent my team away halfway through the investigation without making an arrest." Hotch waited for Tom to go on, knowing that his poor health was making the conversation even harder than it should be.

"The killings stopped and I sent you away," he whispered back. With quivering hands, he passed Hotch an envelope, pulling out the letter that laid on the top of the file. Carefully 'reading' it, Hotch's frown deepened. "What is this about?" Hotch asked.

Tom, mimicking the grim expression, leaned back in his seat. "A deal with the devil."

Then, he continued to read the letter aloud.

**~* DWTD *~**

**Gee, wonder who 'John' is…..This will be Foyet/Reid, so please be warned! And have no fear, things will get interesting- with longer chapters- fairly quickly. Thnx for reading! Oh, and in case you're wondering, yes, I am one sick mother. (Quoting a 'Dean Winchester' there…) Spencey cookies to all who knows who he is! **


	2. The Second Promise

**Rated M starting….NOW!**

**Deal with the Devil- Chapter 2**

**The Second Promise**

George Foyet practically ran out of the apartment, his head spinning. Spencer Reid was…different. 'No, I can't kill him,' he sighed to himself. 'But why? I _have _to kill someone! Why not him…?' Foyet pulled out his cell phone, examining the pictures of Spencer he had taken. He seemed liked the perfect comeback kill- skinnier than hell, an FBI agent, not much of a fighter, bad aim….He skimmed over the pictures again. He was so shy, so….innocent. It was endearing, to say the least, and he wasn't like any cop or FBI agent he had met before.

Foyet uselessly threw his fist against the wall next to his car. No, he couldn't kill him, but he had to murder someone soon, and his time was running out. Stepping into his car and making sure his mask was ready, he pulled on the engine and sped out of the parking lot.

_If you stop hunting me, I will stop hunting them._

His own words echoed through his head as he raced away, his thoughts still wandering to Spencer. Something was wrong with him, something he was positive he could fix, and he alo knew he now had not one but two important tasks to accomplish by the end of the night: 1- kill someone- anyone!- and 2- get his ass back to Spencer's place and demand answers- politely, of course. Knowing that he had a lot of work to do by nightfall, Foyet smiled and sped up just a bit.

~* DWTD *~

By 6pm, Foyet got lucky. A young couple ran into some car trouble, and from what Foyet could see, they had a flat. His smile growing, he parked his car to the side and offered his assistance.

_For as long as we both shall live._

"You need some help? I see you've got a flat…"

Less than 15 minutes later, Foyet had successfully killed not one, but two people, and he was happily on his way to Spencer's house. What he was going to do when he got there was beyond him, but he knew that he had to. Smiling wildly, he parked his car the same place he had just hours before and made his way up to the same apartment building as before. He waited to be buzzed in, frowning when an unfamiliar voice greeted him instead. "Uhm, I see that you're waiting for Reid… He's been having some trouble with his buzzer, so if you could just tell me who you are….?"

Confident that the woman wasn't going to tell Spencer anything but his name, he lied to sweeten the deal. "Oh, I'm John Miles, a work friend of his. We've been trying to call him, but he hasn't answered. We have a case-"

"Ah, enough said," she laughed. "Alright, come on in." The buzzer clicked, and the door opened.

"Thanks!" Foyet shouted back.

"Yeah, no problem."

With a satisfied smirk, Foyet entered the apartment complex with an eager step. Foyet wasn't used to that- excitement to see someone _alive_- since dead corpses were so much easier to deal with than real people. They didn't lie, and they weren't cowards. 'Spencer's not a coward,' a voice in the back of his mind hissed. That was another thing Foyet wasn't used to- a conscious.

Foyet was just about to knock on the door when he heard the whimper coming from the other side.

"_I'm sorry, okay? It won't happen again!" _

The frantic voice was obviously Spencer's, but who was he talking to…?

"_That's what whores always say," _another voice sneered.

As soon as Foyet heard the slap and the sound of glass shattering, he instinctively kicked down the door and rushed inside. Spencer was huddled underneath a stronger, older man who held venom in his eyes. He slapped the defenseless man again before looking up. 'I was going to do the same thing,' Foyet sadly thought.

"Who the hell are you?" he hissed.

Foyet didn't say anything, though, but instead he let his fist make contact with the bastard who was hurting his Spencer. "Don't touch him!" Foyet yelled. The other less experienced man didn't have a chance against Foyet as he effortlessly attacked him. Spencer remained paralyzed on the floor all the while, unsure what was going on. "He's not a whore, either! Don't you ever call him that!" Eventually, Foyet pulled back from him, letting the man fall to the floor in exhaustion. "Now, I'll give you a choice: go rob a liquor store and turn yourself in to the police, or I kill you know."

"Robbery…?" he scoffed from the floor. "That ain't nothing compared to what I've been doing to your boy here!"

Foyet suddenly grabbed the man's shirt and threw him across the room, furious by now. "He's no one's boy! He's not property! Make a choice before I make one for you!"

Without hesitation, the man ran from the apartment.

Foyet immediately turned his attention back to Spencer, jumping down to the floor next to him. Spencer, terrified, looked up at Foyet with fearful eyes. Torn between wanting to hug Spencer and run after the bastard who had hurt him, he bit his lip and looked at Spencer, concern written in his eyes.

"How…how did you know?" Spencer stuttered, shaking like a leaf.

All anger decimated from his eyes as he looked back at him, and he couldn't resist the urge to hug Spencer anymore. Thankfully, Spencer warmed into his embrace, allowing the comforter to shield him from the rest of the world. "It's okay, Spencer," Foyet shushed as Spencer cried on his chest. Wrapping his arms around him, he picked him up and carried him to his bed so that he could get comfortable. Not wanting to be too imposing, Foyet laid Spencer on his bed, waiting to see if he wanted him to hold him. "Please," Spencer whispered shakily. Nodding, Foyet made his way onto the bed, letting Spencer snuggle closer to him. He was surprised when the younger man practically threw himself on him. Most victims would have been afraid of any support whatsoever from a man after being abused by one, but Spencer obviously trusted him enough to take comfort from him. Foyet was suddenly glad he hadn't killed Spencer, especially after he had called him 'his Spencer'.

"I'm not leaving you alone, just in case he comes back, okay? I won't let them hurt you- anyone- I promise you that,"

"O-okay," Spencer nodded, fighting off tears.

Later that night, the news would report that an alleged rapist robbed a liquor store and turned himself in.

'_Til death do us part.'_

~* DWTD *~

Despite Foyet's efforts to make Spencer stay home from work, the next down he still appeared at the doors of the BAU, more confused than he had ever been. Ignoring his thoughts, he tried to push on through- if only to get through another day of work at the BAU.

"Conference room, now," Hotch ordered as he walked by the bullpen. Prentiss and Morgan exchanged worried looks with Reid before the trio headed off to the conference room. They had a bad feeling about the case already, and they hadn't even seen the files yet.

But when Reid opened the case file in front of him, his heart sank.

_"If you stop hunting me, I will stop hunting them. For as long as we both shall live. 'Til death do us part. If you agree to my terms, take out a personal ad in the Michigan Post." _At the bottom of the letter, a depicted rayed eye within a pyramid was drawn in red, messy ink.

Yeah, it was going to be a long case.

**~* DWTD *~**

**So not much longer, but it's getting there! I hope you guys liked it; and have no fear, I'm not dropping the plots mentioned in this chap, rather just introducing them right now…BTW, in case ur confused why he didn't turn him in for sexual assualt, it was because 1- that would be HE would have to walk into the police station WITH Spencer, and 2- He knew Spencer would most likely be against the idea to begin with. Better he's in jail for robbery than nothing at all….**


	3. The Third Promise

**Thnx for reading; pleaz enjoy! And don't forget to check me out on FB! I've been posting spoilers for this story there….**

**Deal with the Devil- Chapter 3**

**The Third Promise**

Aaron Hotchner glanced over at Spencer Reid with a frown on his face. Something was off with him, but he had no idea what it was. He seemed more…nervous, shaky, afraid, even. He knew better than to approach Reid about, though, because all he would get in return was a wall put up between him and his agent and Reid would just try to hide what he was feeling a bit better. Instead, Hotch decided to keep an eye on if, if only to distract himself from the case.

After the briefing, the team scurried onto the planes, each team member lost in their own faults. Spencer Reid's head was in the clouds as he went over everything that had happened in the last 48 hours, and for safe measures, he went over it a fifth time. 'No,' he sighed to himself, 'still doesn't make sense.' His eyes wandered over to Hotch for a second; he was well aware that the section leader was on to him, or at least knew that something was going on, and he knew that he would have to be more careful for now on. How did John know about his new 'roommate'? He hadn't even told the team yet! Although he knew there was something 'off' about his new…boyfriend, he supposed….he couldn't help but feel attracted to him. His mind was screaming at him not to pursue their relationship, but he couldn't help but feel strongly attracted to the man. John was practically a stranger, but he was so-

"Reid, you with us?" Hotch asked, interrupting his thoughts.

"Oh, sorry," Reid blushed, unaware that anyone had been talking to him. "I didn't sleep very well last night," he lied. He had slept better than usual, to be honest, because he felt safer knowing that John was with him. Reid knew he was being irrational, but he couldn't help himself. 'God, what is wrong with me?' Reid thought to himself. 'There's only one reasonable explanation: I've fallen in love.'

"He probably knows the file better than you do, Hotch, and you've been on the case longer than all of us," Rossi smiled. "Why don't we just break until we land? I have the feeing we could all use as much sleep as possible before this case starts." Reid smiled thankfully at Rossi, a trait that only a seasoned profiler would pick up on. Smirking back and shaking his head, Rossi rolled over on his stomach.

"We land in a few hours; make the most out of the few hours we have left, because this case is going to require your full attention as soon as we land." He turned to look at all his agents, eyeing Reid more carefully than the rest. Luckily for both Reid and Hotch, Rossi was the only who had seen the action, but then again, he was the only one who knew to look for it. Rossi was well aware that Hotch thought something was up with Reid even if he hadn't spoken his concern in words. Sighing, Hotch nodded his head before he too rolled over to sleep.

Spencer pushed his knees up against his chest; he knew damn well that he wouldn't be getting much sleep in the next couple of days, and he wouldn't be able to fall to sleep now, either. Sigh to himself, he rested his head against the window of the jet, hoping that Morgan, who was sitting opposite of him, wouldn't say anything.

Morgan's eyes flickered over to Reid for a brief seconds, his smile leaving his face. He, like most of the other agents, had the feeling that something was going on with him. Reid had been quiet and unresponsive lately, and to be frank, it was scaring him. Reid always talked nonsense about his precious statistics and random, seemingly useless facts. All they had gotten from him was a few blushes and a series of 'sorries'. It was very unReid-like behavior, and he hopped that he'd be better in time to spout out facts during the case. From the way Hotch had been talking about the case, they would need everyone at their best. Right now, Reid wasn't. Seeing the younger man's sad-looking eyes glance over at him and quickly look away when he was caught, Morgan turned over to his normal 'sleeping position'. Whatever was on Reid's mind would have to wait until the case was over.

~* DWTD *~

George Foyet walked down the streets of Quantico with a smirk. His crime had already hit the attention of the BAU, or so that was what Spencer had said before he left his apartment that morning. As the news of his reappearance went country-wide, he had other 'business' to attend to. Taking in the cold Virginia air, and reached for his cell phone and pressed speed dial 7. Just seconds later, he received the startled reply from the other end.

"_The Reaper, is that you?" _

"Yeah, it's me," he sneered. "I'm back, and I'm not disappearing this time around."

"_This is crazy!" _the man on the other end laughed. _"You better not be joking, alright?" _

"No, I'm not," he smiled. "And you better be ready, because I'm coming back with a bang." Interrupting the man mid-sentence, Foyet closed the phone and threw it in a nearby garbage can. Then, as if he wasn't doing anything of significance, he continued on his stroll while scanning the crowd for potential victims.

"Excuse me sir, I think you dropped this!" someone called from behind him.

Foyet immediately turned around to see what the blond woman had in her hand, and he immediately recognized it as a photo of Spencer Reid reading a book. Foyet inwardly smiled; he had taken that picture a few aisles over from Spencer at the local book store. It was part of his 'stalker shots' of the poor boy, and luckily he had perfected the art enough to make the pictures seem like they had been taking with consent. Nodding his head, he extended one hand to retrieve the picture and the other to shake the woman's hand. "Thank you," he smiled. "It must've slipped from my wallet."

"Oh, it's no problem," the woman replied, mimicking the smile. "Your son's lovely- quite the looker!"

"Yeah, he is, isn't he?" Foyet nodded. "I'm still waiting for him to propose to his damned girl, though," he added with a chuckle. "Well, thank you for this; have a great day!"

"Yeah, take care!" She waved as she walked away, leaving Foyet to tuck the picture away. He normally ditched carrying the photographs by now, favoring to burn them before he brought too much attention to himself. He hadn't burned a single picture of Spencer, though, and he even had a favorite one of Spencer- the one he had apparently dropped. There was something enduring about the focus and the innocence held in the picture of the boy doing such a simple task, and Foyet was drawn to it for just those reasons.

Suddenly, one of Foyet's other cell phones started ringing. Annoyed, he searched his pockets for the one that was reading. His hand finally felt over the source of the vibration, and he pulled it out. Before answering, he read the back label: 'John Miles'. Sighing, he thought 'Spencer', but just to make sure… "Hello?" Better make sure that it was him, he shrugged.

"_Oh, am I calling at a bad time?" _the voice at the other end asked skittishly.

'Yeah, it's Spencer,' he smiled in his thoughts. "Oh, no, this is fine timing, actually. What's on your mind?" he asked.

"I just wanted to….to thank you, I guess. And apologize," Spencer replied, his voice low- almost a whisper. Foyet realized that he had probably just started working the case he had set up for the BAU, and he almost smiled at the thought. "I understand if you want to…uh….break up? It's been a rough few months for me, and I understand if I'm too-"

"No, Spencer, I don't want to break up with you!" Foyet reassured. "And you don't have to thank me; you deserved better than that trash, anyways."

"Oh, we weren't together," Spencer corrected, and Foyet could practically hear him blush. "He was my new roommate; my landlord thought it'd be better if I had one because of how often I'm away."

"Yeah, because that worked out so well," Foyet scoffed, his rage levels suddenly boiling over again. Maybe he'd have a new victim after all….

"I honestly have no idea what I would have done without you, John. Thank you, for everything…."

"It's no problem, really," Foyet sighed. "I was glad to help you; I hate seeing you hurt." He immediately regretted saying it, though, when he was met by silence on the other end. "I'm sorry, we haven't been together long enough to say stuff like that," Foyet frowned. "It's just… I haven't felt this way in a while-let alone for a man."

"To be honest, John," Spencer started, "I'm new to this entirely. I mean, I've dated before, but it never became serious. And although I have dated….guys….before, those dates always ended badly," the younger man grimaced. "Can you…can you promise me something?" Spencer suddenly asked, his voice raising an octave.

'Oh what the hell?' Foyet sighed. 'I've already promised too much, and I've already dug myself in too far to this con.'

"You still there?" Spencer breathed, insecurity oozing through the words.

"Of course Spencer, anything," Foyet finally replied.

Spencer hesitated before asking, biting his lip in fear that someone at the police station would overhear him. Then, in a whispered hurry, he asked, "Will you promise me that we won't end like those other dates?"

"And how's that?" Foyet grimaced, fearing the answer.

"….Badly," Spencer sighed. He obviously was in no mood to explain his reply, and he honestly doubted that he had time to reply. "Listen, I have to go; can I call you back when- or if, really- we get to a hotel tonight?"

"Sounds like a plan," Foyet nodded. "And yes, by the way." Foyet could practically hear Spencer relax as relief overwhelmed him. 'Good,' he thought, 'I made the right choice.'

"That means a lot to me; thank you, John."

"_Hey Reid, we need you!" _a muffled voice sounded out in the background.

"I assume you have to go," Foyet said. "We can talk more later, okay?"

"Yeah, thanks," Spencer nodded. "Um….goodnight, I guess- just in case I can't reach you tonight."

"Sleep well," Foyet nodded, resisting the oh-so tempting 'I love you'. With that, the line went dead.

~* DWTD *~

"So who was that, Pretty Boy?" Morgan smirked suggestively.

"Oh, just an old friend," Reid mumbled. His eyes lingered over the phone, his fingers gently rubbing the screen of the phone. He had so much he wanted to say to John, but there never seemed to be enough time….

"Yeah, I highly doubt that," Morgan scoffed. "Not with those puppy-dog eyes or the way you keep staring longingly at your phone-"

"Drop it Morgan, okay? It's none of your business, and besides, we need to focus on the case." Before Morgan could respond, Reid marched out of the room, leaving a startled Prentiss and Rossi staring at Morgan, both of them wondering what had just happened.

Morgan watched as Reid walked out of his sight. He turned his head to look at the other two agents in the room, merely shrugging his shoulders in response to their questioning looks. "Yeah, I highly doubt you'll be focusing on this case, kid," he sighed. Then, shaking his head, he left the room as well.

He needed to talk to Hotch- the sooner the better.

~* DWTD *~

**Ta-da. Thanks for reading everyone; you're all epic, and don't let anyone tell you otherwise! In the meantime, I have a challenge. Write a Foyet/Reid drabble!**


	4. The Fourth Promise

**Deal with the Devil- Chapter 4**

**The Fourth Promise**

Hotch wished that he could say that he was shocked when Morgan approached him with his concerns. He didn't even bother sitting, and when Morgan finally took that hint, he too remained standing. "Morgan, I know there's something going on with Spencer, but it's none of our business, and even if it were, we couldn't talk about it now."

'Spencer,' Morgan thought, his mind playing alarms back and forth inside his head. In the years that he had known Hotch, he had never called Reid 'Spencer'.

"If he gets more distracted or if it starts affecting his work, I'll intervene-"

"He was talking to some John, Hotch," Morgan interrupted. "And he didn't sound too happy.

Hotch sighed, mumbling 'damn it' before rubbing a hand over his face. "Alright, I'll talk to him later. In the meantime, I need your head in this case. Try not to worry about yet; we don't even know if we should be worried."

"Right, thanks man." With a dismissing nod, Morgan left and rejoined Reid and Prentiss. Behind him, Rossi cleared his throat.

"You should take your own advice," Rossi said.

Hotch turned around to face Rossi, a mixture of concern and regret flickering through his eyes. "Yeah, I know."

~* DWTD *~

He was officially too close to his prey- hell, he had become his own prey in the process. George Foyet knew that he couldn't hide from Spencer, though. He had fallen in love with him, and there was nothing else for him to do.

Well, except three things.

One, he knew that he had to find another victim as soon as possible. That was the easiest task, though, and his eyes were already opened to a few choices. 'The first one being that damned landlord of Spencer,' he grumbled, his mind wandering back to the rooming incident.

Two, Foyet had to plan his big reveal to the BAU. This task would be the most fun to complete, but it wouldn't be easy. It had to be perfect, but luckily he already had a plan in mind.

Third, and lastly, he had to tell Spencer who he really was.

And if everything went according to plan, he'd tell him tonight.

~* DWTD *~

After the profile was delivered, Hotch dismissed the both the police and his own men. They had been working for over nine hours straight, and his whole team was beat. It had already been one of their top five most exhausting cases, and it didn't help that it hit close to home for him. All profilers had that one case that 'got away', and this was his. Now, he was given the rare opportunity to redeem himself of it, and he full-on planned to take it.

Hotch glanced at each of his team members as they gathered around the conference room, waiting patiently for instructions. Each and every one of them looked exhausted- especially Reid, he added in his head. It was obvious that they weren't getting anywhere tonight- it was already 10:30, anyways- and until everything opened in the morning, working through the night seemed worthless. Nodding his head, he said, "Let's pack it in for the night; there's nothing else we can do." With that one magical sentence, a great weight seemed to lift off of everyone, and they instantly relaxed. "We'll pick up tomorrow; get some sleep everyone."

As the room cleared out, Morgan and Rossi waited behind for the rest of the group to leave. Hotch, eyeing the two men, nodded at them. He knew exactly what they wanted. "Let's discuss them at the hotel; I don't want the on-duty officers to hear us." Agreeing with their boss, Morgan and Rossi followed him out of the building.

~* DWTD *~

Hotch, Rossi, and Morgan walked into the hotel room with grimaces on their face. They suddenly felt wrong doing what they were about to do, and slowly but surely they were all backing out wanting to talk about Reid. It was late at night, for one thing, and for another, it felt wrong to talk about his situation without knowing all the details.

"Look, maybe we should hold this off," Morgan sighed.

"I don't think I could stay up long enough to realize what we discussed," Rossi mumbled, rubbing his eyes.

"You're both right," Hotch nodded. "Let's hold off a bit longer; maybe he'll even tell us himself."

"Let's hope so," Rossi nodded.

"All right," Morgan agreed. "Let's try to get some sleep; like you said, Hotch, this is going to be one bitch of a case."

Then, when Rossi and Morgan turned away, Hotch mumbled, "I didn't say 'bitch'."

~* DWTD*~

Foyet had two hours left of the day, but that was all he needed. With a smile on his face, he held Hotch's business card in his hand, and although too tempted to make the phone call the first night, he knew he had to wait. If his plan was going to work out, he had to tell Spencer who he really was before present 'George Foyet, Victim' to the BAU.

Foyet climbed out the window of his small getaway house and started toward his car. Revving the engine, he took off down the street with a frown growing on his face.

This wasn't going to be fun.

~* DWTD *~

Spencer Reid immediately regretted being sent to his hotel room, because as soon as he laid his head on his pillow, the doorbell rang. 'I knew it was too good to be true,' Reid sighed. 'Damned tease- giving us the luxury to think we'd actually be sleeping tonight.'

But when he opened the door, his thoughts immediately halted.

"John!" Reid wasn't sure if he should be worried or thrilled to tears. If he would've known that Morgan was watching from around the corner, he'd be worried. He had the luxury of not knowing, though, so he decided that he should be happy. "Come in, I'm actually glad to see you."

John smiled as he walked through the door, but as soon as he sat down on his bed and pulled his small messenger bag onto his lap, he became sullen again. Reid immediately picked up on the mood change, and suddenly feeling vulnerable, he threw his arms over his chest and backed up against the door. 'Just in case..' a small voice in the back of Reid's head whispered. 'No, John wouldn't hurt me!' another one argued in return.

"John, what's going on?" Reid asked.

John looked up at Reid, and when he did, he felt something that he hadn't felt for too long-regret. 'Better just get this over with; I have to take my chances…'

"Spencer, I haven't been completely honest with you, but I promise, for now on, I'm telling the truth." John paused to control himself, sighing heavily before finding the nerve to continue. "My name isn't John Miles, and I'm not an accountant."

Reid slowly backed away from the door and sat down next to his boyfriend. Placing a hand on his leg, he bit his lip. "Then….who are you?"

Releasing Spencer's hand from his leg, Foyet's fingers lingered inside his bag until they produced a black mask. "My name is George Foyet."

Recognition immediately grew in Reid's eyes, and they widened- in fear or in anticipation, or perhaps something else entirely, Foyet would never know. Then, slipping on the mask, he watched as Spencer jumped from the bed, slowly backing away from him.

"No…" Spencer whispered faintly, shock consuming his entire body.

"Yes, Spencer, I'm the Boson Reaper."


	5. The Fifth Promise

**I've been ignoring my other stories for this one. I apologize, but I just can't get F/R out of my mind! **

**Deal with the Devil- Chapter 5**

**The Fifth Promise **

The fear in Spencer's eyes made Foyet's heart break in half. He knew he wouldn't tell anyone his secret, though, because no matter if he liked it or not, Spencer Reid had fallen in love with him- _no, _he fell in love with Spencer Reid, and when Foyet fell in love with someone, there was no turning back. They too would eventually fall for the trap, just like Spencer had.

"You're….The Reaper?" Spencer choked. "But, you said your name was Foyet…." His eyes widened. "Foyet was the only remaining victim of The Reaper, though!"

"No, Spencer, Foyet was-_is-_ the Reaper. When I take a victim, they don't have a chance of surviving. I wouldn't be that careless, and you know it." Foyet so badly wanted to reach out and touch Spencer, but he knew that the physical contact might send the profiler overboard.

"Like me," he whispered, his eyes saddening as they traveled to the ground. The flash of emotion was unmistakable, and Foyet swore he'd never forgive himself for making those big, brown, radiant eyes look that way.

"No, Spencer! You're not my victim- you're my…." Foyet's words fell apart as they watched Spencer slowly slide down against the door to the floor.

"You're what, Foyet?" Reid demanded, his eyes angry and his hands shaking. "I'm you're what?"

Foyet lost control of himself, something that he'd been doing too often lately. He threw his mask off and lowered himself to the floor in front of him, forcing the tearful eyes to stare at him directly. "You're my lover," he whispered. "And I'm yours. I promised you that I'd protect you, that I wouldn't let you regret this. I may be a killer, but I still have a heart, Spencer. Despite what Aaron may think, I do care about people. I'm not a psychopath, Spencer…..And I keep my promises."

"You won't hurt me?" Spencer whispered, desperation filling his otherwise monotone voice.

Foyet nodded as he reached down for Spencer's hands and placed his own in them. "I could never hurt you Spencer, but if you need me to promise you that, well, I promise."

And Foyet took Spencer's lips smashing on his own as his reply, and, silently, they both realized that everything had just changed.

~* DWTD *~

"Has anybody seen Reid?" Hotch frowned. Morgan and Rossi both shook their heads, and Prentiss just bit her lip. Everyone on the team had realized that something was bothering their younger friend, and by now they all knew about the mysterious 'John'. Whether the two corresponded was still unknown to them, though.

"I'll go check his hotel room," Prentiss volunteered. "And I can get him to talk about…things." It was needless to say was the 'things' were.

Hotch nodded his head. Hopefully Reid would be more willing to talk about his supposed boyfriend with a woman than he would to himself or Morgan, and he secretly hoped that Prentiss could get through to him. "Good," he agreed. "Don't push too hard; you know how he gets," he cautioned.

"Right, of course," she nodded. She walked away, her heels clicking against the tiles as she did so.

Morgan sighed as he stared at his cell phone as if undecided about something. Rossi raised his eyebrows and pointed toward the phone. Morgan eventually noticed Rossi's staring and eventually shrugged. "Should I tell Garcia about that? She'll have my ass if Reid says anything about it to her…"

"Not yet," Hotch shook his head. "We don't know enough to say who John is for sure. We should wait until Prentiss comes back before mentioning anything, anyways." Morgan nodded in agreement, although he still felt the need to tell someone about it. He had been worried about the kid lately, and he could tell Hotch was too. The section leader wouldn't ever admit it, though, because Hotch had enough to worry about without Reid. They all knew that the case was starting to get to him, and the added pressure of his team wasn't helping, either.

"I hope she gets through to him," Rossi silently admitted. "The kid's hiding something, and I'm not sure that it's something he should be hiding."

"Yeah, me too," Morgan muttered.

~* DWTD *~

The knock on his door startled Spencer Reid awake. His eyes scanned over to Foyet, who held his finger to his lips when Spencer went to open his mouth. "Open the door and let them in; don't let them be suspicious."

"But where will you go?" Spencer frowned.

"The bathroom," Foyet smiled, rolling his eyes. For a moment, Spencer had forgotten that he was talking to- no, _dating_- the Reaper. His smile faded, and Foyet immediately realized what Spencer was thinking. As he stood up he hugged Spencer, and he was glad he did when Spencer kissed him in the process. "We'll make this work," Foyet whispered. Then, he dashed off to the bathroom and closed the door behind him, and Spencer sped over to the front of the room.

"Oh, hi Prentiss," Spencer greeted as he swung the door open.

"We're about ready to start out to the police office," Prentiss said. "You about ready?" She stepped into the room as she swerved around him, only then realizing that he was only in his boxers. Reid blushed as he stared down, causing Prentiss to smile. "It's fine, Reid; just go get dressed, alright? I'll start the coffee maker in the mean time."

"Yeah, thanks," Reid nodded, the aspect of coffee suddenly sounding very appealing. "I'm just going to….to change in the bathroom, okay?" he blushed.

"Yeah, of course," Prentiss chuckled.

"Alright, thanks," Reid mumbled as he shut the door behind him. As soon as the door was shut, he felt an intense pressure against his lips. At first, he moaned with a smile, but as he realized who it was, a sudden terror wracked through him. He pressed Foyet off him, his mind screaming that he was the Reaper's boyfriend. The thought both repulsed him and turned him on, but he soon realized he didn't have time to deal with the conflicting emotions. Prentiss was waiting outside, and he was still only in his underwear.

"I'm sorry Spencer; I should have never lied to you," Foyet sighed, watching him quickly throw on a pair of pants.

"What am I supposed to tell her- _them_? They're going to want to know what's going on with me, and keeping the fact that I'm dating our UnSub from them is going to be hard to keep quiet," he whispered, panic evident in his rushed words.

"Play dumb," Foyet eventually answered. "Tell them what they'd expect to hear- nothing's wrong, John's just an old friend, and you can take care of yourself. Eventually, you will have to give John a title other than 'old friend'-"

"I'll say he's an AA friend, my sponsor," Reid nodded.

"They'll believe you'd need a sponsor?" Foyet asked, raising an eyebrow.

Spencer sighed, just nodding his head as he threw a sweater vest overtop his shirt. "I'll explain later," he promised. "In the meantime, we stay a secret."

"I'll agree to that….. on one condition," Foyet nodded.

Spencer paused, an eyebrow raised. "Under what condition?"

Foyet took Spencer's hands in his own, momentarily pressing his lips against his. Knowing he was already pressing their time constraints, he reluctantly let go of Spencer. "Do you love me?"

Then, much to Spencer and Foyet's surprise, without any hesitation, Spencer nodded his head. "I love you, Foyet."

~* DWTD *~

A few seconds later, a dazed Spencer quietly snuck out of the bathroom, his eyes wandering to a smiling Prentiss with two cups of ready-to-go coffee in her hands. He smiled back thankfully and greedily drank from the container. He took his time drinking, knowing that Prentiss too was stalling for time. Finally, she sat her cup down and turned to him. She separated her lips to speak, but Spencer shook his head. "I know you guys are worried about me, and I know that you heard me talking to John. He's just an old friend, okay? He's not hurting me, though it's none of your business anyways. I can take care of myself, you know." Spencer paused to take another sip of coffee, silently noting to add more sugar when they arrived at the police station. Then, before Prentiss could respond, he started off toward the door, not even bothering to turn around as he strode out of the hotel room with a baffled Prentiss following behind him.

~* DWTD *~

Hotch hadn't gotten anywhere with the case, and if he was being fair, neither had the team. He couldn't help but think that if Reid was paying more attention to the case and less with 'John', they would have figured out everything they needed to and then some- that they would've caught the Reaper and he could finally put the case behind him. He knew he was being greedy, though, and he wasn't being fair.

"I didn't get anywhere with Reid," Prentiss sighed, sneaking up behind Hotch.

"I figured by the way he was acting in the lobby," Hotch replied. "Just… just keep your focus on the case, alright? I need everyone on-board with this one, and it's bad enough that we can't have that." Both Prentiss and Hotch stared out over the edge of the second level of the police station, watching the cubicle area where Reid was currently added twenty pounds of sugar to his coffee. By the purple bags and the redness of his eyes, they could both tell he hadn't been sleeping, and they both knew that meant Reid wasn't going to be as helpful as he usually was. Finally, Hotch just shook his head and turned around. "Come on, let's get back to work."

**~* DWTD *~**

**I know Reid seems to have taken it too well, but come chapter 8 or 9, you'll start to see more of Reid's thoughts about the whole ordeal, and as I promised someone, that will be the time where they talk about the roommate again, too. Ta-da. Yup, that's it. **


	6. The Sixth Promise

**I am digging that you people are digging this pairing. Thnx for reading; I 'dig' you all. BTW, the Reaper timeline isn't altered in this. All events that happened in the show happened here as well. **

**Re-uploaded b/c FF screwed up the formatting. Again. **

**Deal with the Devil- Chapter 6**

**The Sixth Promise**

The third day working the Reaper case and the team still hadn't gotten anywhere. Luckily- which was quite unfortunate for Reid- they had taken a few hours off to go over the case over a nice, hot meal. Unsure of how well he could handle the 'off-screen' interrogations, Reid pulled Hotch over to the side of the restaurant with an extremely realistic cough and two very purple eyes.

"You look like hell," Hotch stated. Reid responded with a nervous laugh and a half-smile. 'Not even two seconds into the conversation and I've already won,' he thought with a satisfied smirk. "What is it you wanted to tell me?" Hotch asked.

"I know how important this case is," Reid started miserably, "and I know you need all hands on deck-"

"But?" Hotch sighed. Then, as if changing his mind, he shook his head and raised his arm. "I'm sorry," he started, "I know that you're sick, and even though I don't officially know about this 'John', I know that you two need to talk."

"Hotch, I-" Reid started, but he was effectively cut off again.

"Don't, Reid. Just…Just go to your hotel room and call him. You two obviously need to talk, and like you said, I need everyone's head in this." Then, without even the mildest bit of hesitation, Hotch patted Reid on the shoulder and rejoined the group.

The sudden sound of his phone ringing made Reid jump, and as he started walking out of the restaurant, he answered it. "Hey…John," he almost smiled.

"We still on tonight?" Foyet asked.

"Of course."

~* DWTD *~

As soon as Foyet heard the door open, he rushed up from his boyfriend's hotel bed and up toward the door. Spencer shrieked when his lips were attacked, but when he finally realized whose lips were smacked on his, he smiled and gave into them. Pressing his hands against Foyet's chest, he allowed the older man to roughly grab his thin hips and pin him down on the bed. The moment quickly passed, though, because Foyet immediately freed Spencer when a panicked gasp escaped his lips. "What's wrong?" Foyet asked gently.

"My leg hurts," Spencer sighed, propping himself up again the bedpost. "Sorry-"

"Don't apologize Spencer; I just got a little carried away," Foyet chucked, earning a shy smile from Spencer. On instinct, Foyet reached forward and pulled Spencer closer to him as his hands traveled over the boy's matted hair. The younger man lowered his head onto his chest and sighed, still finding it hard to admit to himself that John was actually Foyet- the Reaper.

"Are you going to hurt them?" Spencer asked.

"Excuse me?" Foyet frowned.

Spencer lifted his head, a grim expression forming. "My team….Are you going to hurt them?"

"I can't promise you that I won't," Foyet started, "but I can promise you that if I am forced to_….hurt _them, I can tell you- if you want me to, that is."

"Yes, I want to know," Spencer immediately responded. "I have to."

"Okay then, I promise," Foyet nodded, a serious expression on his face. "But I swear that I will try my best to avoid that situation, and you should know that-"

The sound of someone knocking on the door effectively silenced Foyet's promise, though. Mumbling an unheard profanity, Foyet jumped from the bed and into the bathroom. Once the door was closed, Reid stood up and opened the door, trying his best to hide his look of disappointment and to instead look sick.

When he pulled the door to, he frowned. "What's going on?" Reid's mind was now on full-alert.

Morgan, Rossi, Prentiss, and JJ stood outside of the room, each one looking just as upset as the next. Pushing past the kid, Morgan and the rest of the team entered his room, and Reid knew that something was horribly wrong.

"The Reaper called Hotch last night."

~* DWTD *~

Dramatic changes in the case started happening after that. The team had narrowed down the lists of suspects, more evidence was showing up, and loose strings were starting to form the 'bigger picture'. Unfortunately, that also meant that Foyet couldn't spend as much time with him, and considering the fact that they had just became an official 'couple' and their occupations, the time constraints put even more strain on their impossible relationship. Luckily, Reid was still 'sick', so he was allowed back to his hotel after he had done the geographical profile, helped piece together a few clues, and helped give his fair share of the profile. Exhausted, he flipped on the light of his hotel room and plopped down on his bed.

"Are you up to a night out?" a low voice asked as it traveled out of the kitchen area. Spencer smiled as he realized it was Foyet, and he patted the bed next to him. Foyet smirked as he plopped down next to him. "So are you?"

"Hmm….Why not?" Spencer smiled. "May I ask where to?"

Foyet jumped from the bed and walked over to the small closet in the corner of the room. "It's a nicer place, though, so I got you a suit." He threw the suit down on the bed next to Spencer, who immediately started unzipping it to see what it looked like. His eyes jumped straight to the purple shirt underneath it, smiling slightly at it.

"Purple, my favorite-"

"Color, I know," Foyet nodded. He threw on his suit coat and buttoned it up as Spencer swapped clothes. "Grown men tend to stay away from purples and pinks, but I've seen you in both. You seemed to really like that purple scarf of yours, though, so I thought that purple would be a safe bet." Foyet turned away from the mirror and smiled at Spencer. "Besides, it looks fantastic on you."

"Why am I not surprised you liked this color on me?" Spencer mumbled, fiddling with his tie.

"What is that supposed to mean, Mr. F-B-I-Profiler?" Foyet teased back.

Spencer sighed as he shifted his weight off of the bed, grimacing just a little as his leg adjusted to the added weight of his full body. "It means that you're a dominant, and I'm a submissive. Purple isn't exactly related to masculine, and any chance to undermine my masculinity you will. That's okay, though, because I know that I'm more 'feminine' than most males my age. I accepted that a long time ago, and right now I'm almost proud of it." The last sentence came out much softer, and Spencer made his way closer to Foyet. Eventually, his lips were pressed against the older man's, and they reluctantly backed away.

"Oh, and why is that?" Foyet smirked.

"Because I just made the Reaper blush," he whispered, placing his lips back on Foyet's one last time. Spencer then teasingly walked out of Foyet's arms and grabbed his coat. As he threw it on, he added his purple scarf for a more satisfying effect. For a moment, The Reaper and Agent Reid didn't existed, and it was just Foyet and Spencer standing in the hotel room by themselves, no conflicts or problems in their way from being together.

"Oh yeah?" Foyet challenged as he too walked closer to the door, making sure the hat over his head would block anyone from recognizing him on their way out. "Then just wait until what I do to you tonight."

Spencer walked halfway out of the door before pausing, smiling. "I count on it."

~* DWTD *~

SSA Aaron Hotchner knew that they were eerily close to figuring who the Reaper was. They were so close that he could practically taste it, and knowing that fact was driving him insane. His eyes glanced from the boards on the wall to the files on the table; to the newspapers articles pinned meticulously to frames and then back to the people all around. The suspects, as far as Hotch was concerned, included everyone, and motive was seemingly nothing. Everything and nothing wouldn't help him- help his team, actually- and he knew that they needed a miracle to catch someone like the Boston Reaper.

_"If you stop hunting me, I'll stop hunting them." _

His mind traveled faster than he could manage, flashing from one image to the next as it somehow made sense of all the chaos and distortion. The answer was in the files, in the pictures, in the evidence. He just couldn't figure out what the answer was. Sighing, he took a step back and forgot everything he had learned from the reporters and the police about the case. He could only trust himself and Tom Shaunessy. Unfortunately, the latter was dead, and he was dead because of the same mistake that he was about to make: giving in. No, he had to withstand everything The Reaper had, and so far, he was doing just that.

_"You'll regret this," _

The words were shallow and meaningless, but at the same time, they meant everything. It was part of the answer- part of the solution. Groaning, Hotch wished that Reid was with him to help bounce ideas off of. Maybe Reid's fresh eyes could make the connection that Rossi and himself just hadn't seen.

_"I'll see you soon," _

Finally, _finally_, the light in the dark he had been waiting for came on. As ideas licked into place in his mind, the 'bigger picture' started to form, and he could see the puzzle pieces starting mash together and form the completed thought. Tearing down papers and photos, Hotch laid them out on the table and waited for his mind to catch up with his thoughts. Still, he couldn't be sure that his thoughts weren't biased and completely wrong; he'd definitely have to bounce the idea off Rossi and the team before adding anything officially to the profile. There was definitely a connection in all this, though, but there was also still one remaining question that held the key to it all:

How exactly _had the Boston Reaper managed to let Foyet escape? _


	7. The Seventh Promise

**Roduche's Place may be real, but I made it up spare of the moment. **

**Deal with the Devil-The Seventh Promise**

Spencer Reid happily allowed George Foyet to take his arm as they walked to the unknown restaurant- or so Spencer hoped it was a restaurant, anyways. Less than five minutes later, Foyet stopped in front of a fancy-looking place labeled 'Roduche's Place'. "Reservations for Miles," Foyet said with a convincing grin. The man behind the booth smiled back at the couple before escorting them into the place. They were halted at a table in the far corner with a tag reading 'Miles'. The waiter motioned for them to sit and obediently did so.

"Your food will be out in a moment," he reassured them before walking away.

Frowning, Spencer stared back at Foyet. "You already ordered?"

"I figured that you didn't understand German, but please correct me if I'm wrong," Foyet smirked. "And besides, I've seen your fridge. The most 'fancy' foods you had were a cherry pop tart and a few Chinese take-out boxes. Even if you did know German, you'd be lost looking at that menu."

"Are you making fun of my food?" Spencer pouted, feigning hurt. Laughing, Foyet leaned over the table and gave him a quick kiss. Spencer kissed him back, relishing in the small moments that they had together.

Not even two minutes later, their first entrée arrived, and as the cover was lifted from it, Spencer made a face. "What the hell is that?"

"Rouladen," Foyet almost snickered. Then, he picked up his fork and knife and started cutting off a piece. Popping it in his mouth, he started for another piece as Spencer watched in horror. "Hey, don't knock it until you try it," Foyet defended. He cut off another piece, but this time he popped it in Spencer's mouth.

Spencer shrieked as the food assaulted his mouth, and he grabbed a napkin to spit the vile substance out. He frowned as Foyet tried to shovel another piece in his mouth. Suppressing the urge to run from the foul food, Spencer gripped the corner of his seat and bit his lip, shaking his head no as if he was in pain.

"Don' worry," Foyet smiled, "I figured that we wouldn't have too much time, so the next course is desert. Afterwards, we can hit the McDonald's drive-thru."

"Thank you," Spencer huffed, stabbing his own plate of rouladen with his fork. Unable to stand the indecent and unjustified killing of the perfectly good serving, Foyet confiscated the fork and asked the waiter for a take-out box. Spencer blushed as the waiter rolled his eyes in amusement and dropped a generous piece of raspberry cheesecake in front of him.

A few minutes later, Foyet and Spencer finished their delicious deserts. Foyet paid the waiter using a credit under 'John Miles' and showed him the matchingly fake ID. As they walked out of the restaurant, Foyet wrapped an arm around Spencer's shoulders, pushing the boy closer to him. Giggling, Spencer didn't hesitate to embrace Foyet's kiss, and they stopped just for a moment underneath a street lamp. Looking up, they realized it had started snowing. "Pretty cliché, huh?" Foyet huffed.

"Yeah, but it's…it's nice," Spencer admitted, "to be in love, that is."

"Spencer Reid, did you just say you love me?" Foyet smiled, earning a blush for Spencer. "Well, luckily for you, I love you too."

Before starting off again, Spencer asked, "So when's our second date?"

"Hmm… I don't know. You being an FBI agent and me being about to get prison for life might complicate things. Hopefully, it'll be sometime soon, but in the mean time, I promise you that every minute we don't spend on our jobs, I'll make sure we spend together."

"I'd like that," Spencer smiled, nodding his head in approval. Then, before walking again, Foyet stole one more kiss.

"Smile!"

The sound of a clicking stopped the couple dead in their tracks, and they looked up in horror as an employee with an old-fashioned camera waved a Polaroid around in the air.

"Spencer," Foyet whispered, "why don't you start off to McDonald's? It's literally across the street, and I'll be able to catch up with you in a few minutes." He ruffled Spencer's hair before placing a ten dollar bill in his hands, his eyes never leaving the employee.

Recognizing the hidden and displaced anger in Foyet's eyes, he nodded and smiled hopefully convincingly. "Of course, John; do you want anything?"

"Hmm….I'll take whatever you're having," Foyet replied. Then, with a quick kiss, he sent Spencer off on his way.

Afraid to look back, Spencer clutched the ten dollar bill with wide and fearful eyes as he crossed over the darkened road using the light from the street lamp and the glowing McDonald's symbol. And as he pulled the door to the fast food restaurant opened, he could've sworn that he heard a scream.

He was suddenly glad that McDonald's wasn't busy on Wednesday afternoons.

~* DWTD *~

When SSA Dr. Spencer received his order, he turned around and realized that Foyet still wasn't back. Frowning, he sat down on a bench and sighed. His appetite, he had found, was suddenly was lacking. He tried for the fries anyways, and he pulled them from the bag and started playing with them, and on occasion he would actually eat one, too.

"Reid, what are you doing here?"

His eyes went wide as he heard the familiar voice, and he quickly hid the bag underneath the table as the man approached him. Feigning a smile, he watched as David Rossi sat down opposite of him. "I got hungry," Reid blushed, "and I remembered seeing a McDonald's not that far away from the hotel…" he quickly covered. "What are you doing here?"

"Getting food for the team," Rossi shrugged off. "It might take a while, though, it was a pretty hefty order," he chuckled.

"Yeah, I can imagine," Reid smiled. Feeling the need to do something, Reid reached for a fry and took his sweet time eating it. His eyes flickered up and over to the door when he heard it ring, and he had to catch himself from frowning when he realized who it was. Seeing that Reid had company, Foyet quickly turned the corner and decided to hang out in the bathroom. Reid turned his gaze toward Rossi, and if the older man had suspected anything, he sure wasn't letting on to it. Trying to distract Rossi until his food came, Reid offered Rossi a fry, a smile placed oh-so carefully on his face. "Don't mind if I do," Rossi smirked.

About ten minutes later- 8 minutes, 54 seconds to be exact, but who was counting?- Rossi finally left with meals for the team. Their conversation hadn't gotten far, as it only consisted of how sick Reid looked, how unhealthy McDonald's was, how this Reid was, and what a pain in the ass Strauss would be if they didn't catch the Reaper. To end the conversation, Rossi made a suggestive comment about what the Reaper could do when he found him compared to what Hotch was actually going to do. All the while, Reid had been throwing Rossi underneath a bus. Literally- at least, if it was up to Reid, anyways.

"Well, I hope that you feel better tomorrow morning, because it's going to be a long day," Rossi warned. "Hotch thinks he's found something, but hey, it could be nothing," he shrugged. "Get some sleep, kid."

"Yeah, you too," Reid smiled back. "See you tomorrow."

"Night Reid!"

After Rossi left the restaurant and carefully placed the five bags of food on his passenger seat, Foyet snuck out of the bathroom and took Rossi's former seat. As if to tempt fate, he took Spencer's lips onto his own and carelessly kissed him. Spencer pulled away gasping, but he smiled as he did so. "I've never been kissed like that before," Spencer said breathlessly.

"Yeah, I figured as much by your reaction," Foyet laughed. Then, settling down, he frowned. "Where's our food?"

~* DWTD *~

After the BAU team had finished eating, Rossi pulled Hotch over to the side. He knew that they were still busy on the case, but he also knew that Hotch needed to know about what he had seen.

"Wait, so Reid was at McDonald's when you were there?" Hotch frowned.

"Yeah, and he was hiding food underneath the table. I would've missed it if he hadn't had offered me a fry. When he shifted, I saw the bag hidden in his messenger. And a few minutes before I left, his eyes kept wandering toward the door. I think he wanted me to leave because I was interrupting a date! It would explain the suit…" Rossi knew that the accusation was pretty bold, but he also knew that it was more than likely true. It would explain that 'John' character and why he was actually admitting to be sick. Any other time, he would've hidden his illness. Now, he was embracing it so that he could use it as an excuse to see his new boyfriend.

"Is he faking sick?" Hotch asked, almost annoyed.

"No, he's definitely still sick," Rossi shook his head.

"Then I can't do anything about it," Hotch sighed. "If he wants to see his boyfriend when he's off-duty, I can't stop him. Until we get home, I'm dropping this- and you should too. We need to find out if I'm right about Foyet, and if I'm not, we need to find out who the Reaper is. To do that, I need my whole team's head in this." Hotch patted Rossi's shoulder, guiding him back out of the office. "And besides," he mumbled, "Garcia's already looking into 'John' with the little amount of information that we have."

Smirking, Rossi shook his head. "If anyone can find out who 'John' is, it's Garcia."

"That's what I figured," Hotch nodded, smiling a bit. Then, he immediately shifted back into 'Section Chief Hotchner' mode. "Let's get back to work."

"With pleasure."

**~* DWTD*~**

**I apologize for the long waits in-between chaps, but this is the best I can do right now. And yes, this is the *last* promise! Off to the 'substance' of the story!**


	8. Repercussions

**Deal with the Devil- Chapter 8**

**Repercussions **

"Hotch, I think we've got this," SSA Emily Prentiss smiled. "You were right about the Foyet connection, and Garcia just confirmed it."

"Great job everyone," Hotch sighed tiredly. "It's been a long day, and tomorrow morning we'll start the hunt for George Foyet. In the meantime, let's head back to the hotel room and get some sleep."

"Thank god," Morgan mumbled sorely. Rubbing his shoulder, he slung back his coffee mug and easily downed it. "I don't think I can take another nap in that damned office chair."

Ignoring his comment, the team split up into the three SUVs, each one of them thinking something different- if not thinking at all, even. They were all dead on their feet, and their concentration was certainly lacking. Luckily, though, Rossi, Hotch, and Morgan shared an SUV, and they were allowed to talk about something else that had been on their minds: _Reid. _

"So he was at McDonald's for his date?" Morgan scoffed, obviously not impressed.

"To be fair, I think they did the best they could for a spare of the moment date, and it doesn't help that he's sick, either," Rossi mumbled from the passenger's seat.

"So now you're defending this guy?" Morgan asked incredulously.

"Give John a chance, Morgan," Hotch sighed. "We don't know what he's like, so let's wait before making any rash decisions about him yet."

"Hey, did Garcia find anything on him?" Rossi asked, frowning.

"Not enough information," Morgan sighed. "If we even had something as small as a last initial, I think she would've been able to find him."

"I think one of us should pay him a visit," Rossi said. "Maybe we'll get lucky and he's with Spencer now."

"You think Spencer's that careless, to let a guy come around when he knows the whole team's snooping on him?" Morgan asked.

"No," Hotch replied, "but I do think he's that in love."

~* DWTD *~

_Foyet laughed. Then, settling down, he frowned. "Where's our food?" _

Spencer Reid smirked as he removed the bag of food from his messenger bag. He took out the two hamburgers, three cookies, and the remaining order of fries and laid them out on the table. Torn between whether or not to ask him what he had done to the employee who had snapped the picture, he decided against it and instead waited for his boyfriend to take the lead on the conversation. George Foyet reached for one of the burgers as he placed his carry-out box down on his seat. After taking a few bites, he sat his burger down. Spencer frowned and placed his down too. "No, Spencer, you can finish yours," he chuckled. "I just wanted to talk to you for a minute, and luckily it doesn't require your input."

"What is it?" Spencer asked as he picked up his meat substitute, taking another bite of the thin bread.

"I've promised you a lot of things in the three weeks that I've known you, and I hole-heartedly plan on keeping those promises," he started. Already Spencer was nervous, because he had in fact remembered the promises, and none of them were very 'happy', either. "So here's the truth, Spencer. I'm going to jail soon, and you already know. I will be hurting some people in the meantime, though, and I want you to be aware of that."

"My…my team?" Spencer asked fearfully. He suddenly found his appetite lacking again, and he rolled the remnants of his hamburger up in its wrapper.

Ignoring the question for the moment, Foyet sighed. "I know I probably shouldn't tell you this, but I'm going to be escaping, too." Spencer was suddenly glad he didn't have the sloppy food in his hand, because he was sure that he would have dropped it by now, completely staining his new favorite shirt. "And when I escape, Aaron's going to get hurt, but before that, Derek Morgan…he'll be hurt too, but not nearly as badly." he whispered as so no one else would hear. "If anything, I think it's really just his ego that'll take a blow," he almost smirked. Seeing the reaction on his boyfriend's face, he sighed, suddenly regretting all the promises that he'd made. "It's not too late to back out of this, Spencer. I love you, but I'm not going to force you to stay with me-not with what I'm about to do to your family."

"I'm not going anywhere, Foyet," Spencer said sternly. "I love you too, and as long as you tell me beforehand what you're planning, I'm willing to live with the repercussions. All I need to know is that you love me, and I already know that." Spencer reached out to take his boyfriend's hands, a ghost of a smile on his face. "When I found out who you were, I knew exactly what I was getting myself into. What I felt before I knew who you were is still the same."

Suddenly, Foyet frowned. Confused, Spencer wrinkled his eyebrows, waiting for Foyet to elaborate. "Your hands are on fire," he mumbled. He pulled his hands away and felt his lover's forehead. "I think you're spiking a fever," he said. "Come on, let's get you back to your hotel room, okay?"

"Will you stay with me?" Spencer asked as he was yanked up on his feet.

"Of course."

~* DWTD *~

Within an hour of leaving the restaurant, Spencer had thrown up three times, taken two half showers-both times interrupted by throwing up-and had curled up on Foyet's lap more times than he could remember. In the few moments that Spencer was up to talking, their conversations wavered from children to sports, food to school, from books to fish. None of the conversations lasted long, though, due to interruptions mostly caused by Spencer rushing to the bathroom. Foyet sighed; to say the least, it wasn't how he wanted to spend one of the few moments he had left with him before jail, but at least he was with Spencer, and that kept him from ever complaining about it.

Finally, two hours until midnight, Spencer passed out. Foyet cuddled the younger man closer to his chest, stroking his hair as he silenced the murmurs and whimpers of the restless man's sleep. He too felt like he was going to fall asleep when his head was jerked upright at the sound of knocking on a door. "Damn," he quietly cursed. Knowing that he couldn't do anything as the doorknob slid open, he just held Spencer closer and hoped for the best.

"Reid?" a hesitant voice called from the make-shift sitting area. Foyet immediately recognized it as David Rossi's voice, and he cursed more profoundly in his head. He had a feeling that the confrontation would end more than badly…

~* DWTD *~

**An elaboration on what Foyet and Reid talked about at the hotel will come in flashback form later on. **


	9. Sell Your Soul

**Haven't been in the writing mood, but Foyet demands my attention. His knife is bigger than mine, and I'm no idiot! **

**Deal with the Devil- Chapter 9**

**Sell Your Soul**

"_Reid?" a hesitant voice called from the make-shift sitting area. Foyet immediately recognized it as David Rossi's voice, and he cursed more profoundly in his head. He had a feeling that the confrontation would end more than badly…_

George Foyet wrapped his fingers around Spencer Reid's frail body, bracing himself for a fight that he wasn't prepared for. He made sure a knife was nearby before Rossi entered the room, silently cursing himself for not acting quicker.

"Reid, where are you?" Rossi called back impatiently. Eventually, the older man made his way back to the beds, and he frowned when he saw Foyet. The murderer had his head hidden so that Rossi couldn't recognize him, and just for a second Foyet thought that he could just pretend to be sleeping. The charade lasted about a minute before Rossi realized that his hand was moving. "I hope to god that you're John- that or Reid really gets around," Rossi mumbled. Foyet paused his hand- to be honest, he wasn't even aware that he was moving it up and down Reid's back. There was a long pause, and Foyet thought that Rossi had bought the act. "Nice try kid; I know you're awake."

'Damn,' Foyet mumbled. 'I've been caught.' He hesitated before gently shifting Spencer on his chest. Sighing, he pinched his nose. There was no way that he could let the profiler wake his Spencer up; it had been a rough night for him, and there was no way that he was letting his peace be disturbed. "You have to promise me something," he said, disguising his voice the best he could.

"And what would that be?" Rossi frowned.

"When I lift me head up, don't react. And….and know that I love Spencer, and he loves me." Then, gulping down his nerves he added, "I'd never hurt him."

"What-"

Rossi was silenced when Spencer Reid started to stir from his sleep. The younger man quietly snuggled closer to Foyet, wrapping his fingers around his shirt as he pulled himself up on Foyet's chest. "Mm….who's here?" he mumbled sleepily.

"More importantly," Rossi said, "is who is _he_?"

The older profiler's voice was enough to shock Spencer awake from his sleepy state, and his eyes immediately widened. Foyet's hand gripped at Spencer's hands, pinning them down in warning. "Don't panic," he whispered. Spencer nodded quietly, waiting for Foyet's go-ahead. He didn't need it, though, because Rossi was clearing his throat, obviously ready to carry on.

"So this is John." It was almost a question- _almost-_ but the certainty in his voice canceled out any question that he may have had.

Sighing, Spencer hesitantly lifted his head from his lover's chest, not wanting to let go. Before he got off of Foyet, he leaned closer to his, placing his lips against Foyet's skin like a kiss as he whispered, "Keep your head down. The lights are low, so he can't really see you anyways." Tentatively kissing him to seal the act, he removed himself from Foyet's lap.

"Yeah, this is John," he smiled thinly. "Please don't tell the team that he's here. I…I don't want them to know about this," he begged.

"Against my better judgment, I'm not going to tell them…..but you'll have to tell Hotch, at least." Then, glaring down at John, he said, "I don't know him, and neither does Hotch. We don't know if we can trust him or if he's at least…_nice _to you, I suppose. We need to know that we can contact you at a moment's notice if need be-"

"He'd never hurt me," Spencer growled, trying his best to keep from clenching his fists in fury.

"Reid," Rossi sighed, obviously not convinced. "How can you be so sure-"

"He's right _here_, Rossi! Don't act like he doesn't exist!" he hissed. "Ask him if you don't believe me. You're a profiler; you can tell how sincere he is- ask him!"

"Now wait just a minute-" Rossi fumed.

"Stop, please," John sighed, his voice disguised. "Don't fight over me. I love Spencer, alright? I have for a while now, and I've promised him that I wouldn't hurt him. I intend to keep my promise." His eyes glanced up at Spencer and Rossi, hoping that the older profiler wouldn't realize his dodgy glances.

Seemingly satisfied, Rossi held his hands up defensively and stood from his seat. "We're not done- Reid, John," he warned, "but for now it'll have to do." Then, before leaving, he turned to John with a stern glare on his face. "If you hurt him, I will make it my business to make sure that you don't live to see another day, understood?"

"I wouldn't have it any other way," Foyet nodded grimly. Then, with one nod of his head, Rossi left the hotel room.

And as soon as the door was shut, Spencer was back on Foyet's lap.

~* DWTD *~

SSA David Rossi knew that Spencer Reid wasn't an idiot, but for the life if him he couldn't figure out how the younger man thought that he could have his boyfriend keep his face hidden without him noticing. One thing was for sure: he had to have a conversation with 'John', and if he was going to learn what he needed to learn, Reid couldn't be there.

~* DWTD *~

"That was way to close, Pretty Boy," Foyet mumbled, petting his boyfriend's hair. The nickname made Spencer inwardly blush, and he didn't know if he could resist not breaking out into a silly grin if Morgan ever called him that again. Resituating himself so that he was back on Foyet's chest, Spencer sighed in content and allowed his lover to pull a blanket around him. "Take it easy, alright? You're still sick, and I don't want you worrying about Rossi on top of… well, us."

" 'M fine," Spencer slurred. "Just….tired," he added with a yawn, causing Foyet to grin.

"I'll take your word for it," he chuckled. Then, without notice, he wrapped his arms around Spencer and transported him to the bed. Spencer frowned and waited for Foyet to join him again. Shimmying underneath the covers, Foyet pushed the second layer on top of Spencer's gentle frame. "Figured you'd be more comfortable here," he smiled.

"Mm….You were right," Spencer nodded. He suddenly frowned, looking up at House. "You said that you were going to…to hurt Morgan and Hotch-"

"No, Spencer, not now," Foyet sighed.

"Yes, right now," Spencer sighed. "I need…I need to know. What are you going to do to them?" Spencer stared up at Foyet, anxiously waiting for a reply. Seeing that he wasn't going to get his way, Foyet nodded his head.

"Alright, but I really can't tell you about Hotch, because I'm still working that one out, okay?" Foyet frowned. He wish he was lying, but he wasn't. Besides, he had promised Spencer that he'd tell him the truth for now on. Grimacing as he thought back to all the other promises he had made, he suddenly regretted them all…

"Fair enough," Spence nodded. To be honest, he hadn't expected Foyet to even tell him that much, but as he thought back, he realized that he had to. He had promised that much. He was starting to realize that Foyet was right; he wasn't like the boyfriends he had had before. When Foyet promised him something, he knew that he actually meant it.

"I want to know about the ones before me, though," Foyet added in slyly. "You did tell me you'd share, you know."

"They were jerks, Foyet," Spencer sighed, "low-lifes who didn't actually give a damn about me. They tried to feign themselves as gentlemen, and I bought it. One even told me he loved me to trick me to…to…" Spencer gulped, hoping that Foyet could fill in the blanks on his own. "They weren't like you," he smiled up at Foyet. "They may have been _criminal _like you, but that's all you have in common with them. They were liars and conmen; you're…._real_, genuine, even."

"Out of all the nifty adjectives that an FBI profiler could use to describe me," Foyet grinned, "I never thought genuine would be one of them. I suppose I'm thankful, though, because I've never met anyone like you." Hugging Spencer closer, he placed a kiss on his forehead as he watched the younger man blush. They sat in silence for a moment, relishing in the moment that they had together. As the minutes passed, though, Foyet realized that he had stalled enough. Nodding his head, he told Spencer what he had been waiting to here.

"I'm going to hurt Morgan, Spencer," he started, "and like I told you before, it'll mainly be a burn to his ego."

"What are you going to _do_, though?" Spencer frowned.

"I'm gonna take his badge and leave a bullet so he knows what I can do to him. After I leave him to my mercy, I'll throw down that same bullet and just walk away. The real pain, I hope, will be knowing how close he was to catching me," Foyet grinned.

Spencer rolled over on the bed, unsure if he should smile along or grimace. He knew that logically Foyet was a sick, twisted man, an UnSub for his team to catch. He also knew, however, that Foyet was capable of feeling emotions- emotions like love and desire, lust and guilt. As if sensing his uneasiness, Foyet too rolled over and faced Spencer again.

"You sold your soul to the devil," he whispered, "but it's not too late to back out."

"Yes it is," Spencer shook his head. "I'm in this for good now, and I'm not going anywhere."

"As you wish," Foyet nodded. Then, he reached out for the lamp opposite of the hotel bed and flicked it off. He felt as Spencer shifted back on top of him and mechanically threw a blanket on top of them. His mind wandered to the real truth of their relation- the truth that it would end badly for Spencer. He would eventually die, and he knew that he was going to be leaving Spencer behind to pick up the mess he'd made. It was too late for either of them, though, and he had also accepted that. Spencer was genius; Foyet was sure that he had weighed out the pros and cons of their relationship, and if the odds were good enough for his lover, they were good enough for him as well.

" 'Til death do us part."

**~* DWTD *~**


	10. Vantage Point

**Note: Roy Colson was the reporter Foyet always went to. Some quotes taken straight from Omnivore. Only made a few adjustments from the actual ep, but nothing major. **

**Deal with the Devil- Chapter 10**

**Vantage Point**

Logically, Spencer Reid knew that he should've expected his team to figure out who the Reaper was. Logically, he should be practically jumping up and down due to the break in the case- after all, the Reaper had thrown Morgan out of a window and left a bullet in place of his credentials. Logically….Well, Spencer wasn't thinking logically.

"Reid, I need your head in this one," Hotch grumbled.

"Sorry Hotch," Reid nodded in understanding. "It won't happen again."

"Good," he mumbled. Then, he turned away from the younger agent to address the whole group. "Rossi, you go with Prentiss around the front entrance of the building. JJ and Morgan will go to the side door while Reid and I take the back." Then, hoisting his gun back on its clip, he signaled for them to go back to the SUVs. After a series of nods from everyone, they grouped back in the cars and headed off.

~* DWTD *~

Spencer's nerves were on fire as his team marched through Roy Colson's house. Room by room they cleared the entire house until only one room- the room where they could hear Colson and Foyet talking- remained for them. Each team member surrounding the openings of the dining room and waited for Hotch to signal for them. A moment later, Hotch nodded and they all invaded the room.

"FREEZE-FBI!" Prentiss shouted.

"Put the gun down, Foyet," Hotch hissed. Foyet immediately slammed the gun to Colson's head, smirking as his eyes traveled from Reid to Rossi before settling on Morgan. A flash of emotion flickered through Rossi's eyes, something that didn't go unnoticed by Hotch, but it soon vanished as soon as the Reaper turned his attention to Morgan.

"Oh, hello Morgan. I've got something of yours," he teased.

"Go to hell!" Morgan spat at him.

Then, losing interest in Morgan, Foyet turned his attention over to Hotch. "Those people on the bus died because of you, you know. You should've taken that deal."

"That was your choice," Hotch shook his head. "You're the serial killer."

Finally, after turning his eyes to Reid and Morgan, he dropped his gun. "I'm going to be more famous than any of you realize," he smirked. Then, with his hands up in surrender, Morgan attacked.

"You son of a bitch! Give me my badge back!"

"Sorry, Agent Morgan- seems it's not currently in my possession." Morgan then slammed Foyet against the wall and cuffed him. The team held their guard up in case they needed to intervene. Foyet stretched his hands in his cuffs, letting something fall out of his sleeve as he did so. Alarmed, Reid pretended to walk to the other side of room and caught it just before it fell. Foyet briefly glanced at him with a flash of emotion so brief that even the trained profilers around them had missed it. Reid had been looking for it, though, so he acknowledged it immediately. Sighing, he pocketed the box and watched the scene unravel.

As it finally ended, Rossi lowered his gun. His wide eyes glanced at Reid before they wandered to Foyet as realization finally dawned on him. "Shit," he cursed under his breath. Foyet caught Rossi's gaze, and he nodded his head to confirm his suspicions. Morgan dragged their UnSub out as the rest of the team headed out the door. Just as Reid was about to follow the team out, Rossi grabbed at the younger agent's wrists and halted him from any further advances. "This isn't over, Reid. How could you…what….?" Rossi shook his head as his mind uselessly tried to process the information that he had just learned. Seeing that Reid was about to respond, he curtly cut him off. "Not here- not now."

Running a hand through his hair, Reid nodded. "Alright, fine," he murmured. He let Rossi brush pass his shoulders and walk out, obviously pissed at him. Then, groaning to himself, he too walked out from the crime scene.

~* DWTD *~

Rossi and Reid didn't talk until the BAU reached the jet. When everyone else was finally sound asleep, they took the opportunity to talk about what had happened.

"Reid, what the _fuck _were you thinking?" he hissed.

"I'd say you don't know him like I do- that you don't know what he's capable of. He's not just a killer, Rossi. He's a human being," Reid said. "But that's not good enough for a profiler," he sighed. "That's not an answer that you're willing to accept."

"Damn right it's not!" Rossi scolded. His eyes wandered around the jet to make sure that the team was still asleep. "You're a profiler, too. You know that Foyet's just tricking you to get-"

"He's not!" Reid glared, slamming his fist against the table.

Reid and Rossi stopped talking when they heard the sound of footsteps coming toward them. Angry, Rossi glared at Reid. "Way to go," he congratulated sarcastically. "You woke Hotch up!"

"Then don't tell me that Foy-_he's _using me!" Reid muttered. "Like you said, I'm a profiler too. Damn it, Rossi! Don't you think that I know what I'm-"

"Reid, may I speak with you alone for a moment?" Hotch asked politely.

"Of course," he mumbled before walking away from the seats. He knew that Hotch would want to consult to Rossi before talking to himself, and to stop anyone from looking even more stupid than they already did he decided leaving would be best.

Once Reid was out of earshot, Hotch sighed and looked down at Rossi, obviously annoyed. "What the hell did you say to him?" he asked sharply. "I've never seen him like that before."

"Hotch, not now," Rossi urged. "This isn't something you want to get a part of, trust me." The severity of the older profiler's tone caught Hotch off-guard. He quickly recovered, though, and just sighed deeply in response.

"If this gets out of hand," he warned, "I _will _have to get involved." Hotch glanced up at Reid, watching as the agitated profiler bounced his knee and glared off out the window. "Give him some space, alright? It's been a rough week for everyone." Without waiting for a response, Hotch walked off.

Spencer buried his head as he watched his boss walk over to him. Biting his lip, he stared down at the box Foyet had given him at the crime scene. He hadn't gotten up the strength to open it, and it felt wrong to open it in front of the team, anyways. He had decided to wait until he got to the BAU to sneak into the bathroom and finally see what Foyet had left him…

"Reid, what was that about?" Hotch asked. The scolding tone in his voice would've gone unnoticed by anyone but the profilers that worked with him, and Spencer inwardly became infuriated. He wasn't a child who had stolen a cookie before dinner- he was a man who had fallen in love. "Does this have anything to do that _John_….?"

"I didn't get much sleep last night," Reid sighed. Blowing up to Hotch would only make the hole he was digging bigger, so he decided to play his innocent act again. "I didn't mean to be so snappy with Rossi. He's just….He can be a lot like Morgan when it comes to joking, you know? I guess I just haven't gotten used to it yet," he blushed.

"I'm going to let it go for now," Hotch sighed, "but be more careful, alright? We need you at your best when we're on cases, and lately you haven't been. If it happens again, you and I will have to have a one-on-one discussion about this."

"Of course," Reid nodded, "I understand."

Hotch nodded before standing up. "Get some sleep." He patted the younger man's shoulder before walking away, completely oblivious to the fact that Reid's focus was too preoccupied with the box to even care about what he had just said, and even when Hotch was sitting right in front of him the box had remained in his hands.

Needless to say, he didn't take his boss' advice.

~* DWTD *~

The black box trembled in Reid's hands as he slammed the bathroom stall shut behind him. Impatiently he undid the red ribbon and opened the lid to the box. On top of a small draw-string bag was a neatly folded envelope. Just as he was about to open it, though, Prentiss started frantically calling his name. "Damn it," he muttered as he shoved the lid back on. Throwing it in his bag and running from the stall, he frowned when he was met with a horror-struck Emily.

"What happened?" he asked, suddenly alarmed.

"L-look at these," she said. Reid took the papers from her hands and flurried his eyebrows. His eyes widened as he realized what they were. "We found a copy in Foyet's cell and another at his house." Then, biting her lip nervously, she asked, "Please tell me it's not what I think it is."

"Depends on if you think these are blueprints to over half a dozen prisons," Reid muttered as he studied them carefully. "You don't think…?"

"Guys, we have a problem," JJ said grimly as she walked up to the group.

"What is it?" Prentiss carefully asked.

"Foyet just escaped."

**~* DWTD *~**


	11. Into the Fire

**Please see my profile for an important A/N.**

**Deal with the Devil- Chapter 11**

**Into the Fire**

SSA Aaron Hotchner closed the door behind him as he turned around to face Penelope Garcia. She frowned at the sudden intrusion, but when she realized who had entered her office she smiled the best she could. "Hey Boss-Man! What can I do for you today?"

"You can start off by telling me why you lied to me," Hotch said without skipping a beat.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Garcia frowned. It was the half-truth at the very least. She had a feeling she knew exactly what he was talking about, but she just had to make sure…

"You told us you didn't find anything about 'John'," Hotch glared.

Garcia bit her lip; she had been hoping that her little fib wouldn't have been found out. Besides, she was only lying to make sure that she was right, because if she wasn't her mistake would have very steep consequences, and she wasn't yet willing to accept how fatal they may be.

A knock on the door paused the conversation. Both agents looked up at the new guest, and Hotch immediately fell back into his 'Section Chief' mode. "Just get back to me as soon as you can so I can complete the file, alright?" he easily lied.

"Of course sir," Garcia smiled. "It should be up to you soon."

"Very well then," he nodded. Hotch stood up and brushed passed Rossi. "Excuse me," he muttered as he left the office.

Rossi waited until the door shut again before sitting down opposite of Garcia. Sighing, he leaned forward and watched the red head reach for an unlabeled file. "I suppose you want these," she said quietly, never looking up from her screens. "I don't want to know what's in there Rossi, but if something happens, you have to tell me, alright?"

"You didn't look at them?" Rossi asked. "Weren't you curious?"

"Of course I was," Garcia scoffed, "but my Boy-Genius is entitled to his privacy, and it's clear he doesn't want us knowing about…_John_." She turned around in her chair, waiting for Rossi to open the file. "I may respect his privacy, but I need to know if Reid's in danger. I'm not a profiler- I can't access that threat."

"I won't let Reid get hurt, Garcia. I can promise you that much," Rossi nodded. "I'll…I'll _look _over this before we hand it to Hotch, alright?"

"Yeah, sounds good," she nodded, pretending not to know that Rossi was planning on giving only an edited file to Hotch. Then, as Rossi stood up to leave, she spoke up again. "What exactly does this mean, Rossi? What is all this sneaking around about?"

Rossi bit his lip and searched around the room as if an answer would just suddenly appear from the sky. Deciding that the sky gods were against him for the day, he sighed and shook his head. "This means that Reid might've gotten himself in trouble again, but I'm not so sure anymore. If Hotch sees what I think is in the file, both him and Strauss might make a terrible mistake."

"You're answering my riddle with more riddles," Garcia scolded. "You know what? I don't care anymore." She threw her hands up in the air in mock defeat and cut Rossi off from trying to butt in again. "No, just take care of this, alright? And at least talk to him!"

"I'm 'talking' to Reid tonight," Rossi reassured, "and you shouldn't worry. If all works out the way I think it will, this is the last time you'll be caught in the middle of this."

"Good, because I don't like being torn between my family," she mumbled. "Just…just make sure he's okay and drop this whole sneaking around business, alright?" She was met with a small smile as a reply, and she too allowed a smile to spread on her face. "Now go save my baby!"

~* DWTD *~

Spencer Reid stared back and Emily Prentiss with wide eyes. He knew that Foyet would escape, but so soon…?

"Damn it, Reid," Prentiss cursed. "We have to tell Hotch…And Morgan."

"Alright," he nodded. "Let's get this over with."

"Get what over with?" Morgan asked as he approached the two. The nervous demeanor of his two friends made Morgan suspicious, and as he saw the flash of sadness pass Prentiss' eyes, realization dawned on him. "Oh no- no, no, no, no…'

"I'm so sorry Morgan," Prentiss almost whispered.

"Sorry about what?" Hotch asked as snuck up on the group.

Reid placed a fake look of dismay on his face before he said, "The Reaper broke out of jail."

~* DWTD *~

Later that night, Spencer Reid promised Rossi to catch up with him before heading home. Agreeing that they were both hungry, the two profilers decided to talk over a late dinner. Before pulling out of the BAU parking lot, though, he took out the box Foyet had given him and finally opened it. The inside of the black box held an envelope and some sort of golden chain. He went for the envelope first and carefully read it:

_Spencer,_

_In case you haven't already figured it out, I'm not in jail anymore. Don't try to find me, because even if you do, it'll only lead to trouble right now. Things are about to get really messy, and by the time I'm done with Aaron, I can almost guarantee you that you'll no longer want to be with me. If you want me back, I still promise to keep all the promises I made to you. Either way, I will be in contact with you soon enough. Stay safe and keep this necklace with you in case you need reassurance. _

_With Love Forever,_

_-Dark Eyes_

Sighing, Reid placed the letter in his messenger bag and fingered the golden chain with precision. The inside of the oval charm had a rare thing in it- a picture of the Reaper smiling as he kissed his boyfriend happily. Grinning himself, Reid read over the words printed on the thin paper on the opposite side of it. "I didn't hurt him that day," he read aloud, "but asked him if I could keep the photo instead of hanging it up." His grin momentarily faded as he thought back to the night the photo had been taken. He was sure that his boyfriend had hurt the photographer, but hearing this news brought a bit more relief to him.

Spencer quickly turned his ignition on before finally deciding to put the locket on. Luckily Foyet had made it low enough as to where his team members wouldn't be able to see it. Then, driving off, he prepared himself for whatever may happen next.

~* DWTD *~

**A little shorter than I wanted, but *Shrugs. I can only do so much! Up next: The fairy tale relationship w/ Foyet and Reid is tested when Rossi finally speaks up about it. Also, check out my profiler and new poll!**


	12. Good God

**Next two chapters will be the build-up to the more interesting part. Thanks for sticking in there; it means the world to me.**

**Deal With the Devil- Good God **

"You can't keep doing this, Reid," David Rossi sighed. The younger man and himself had only been in the bar and grill- or at least the bar part anyways- for half an hour, but they didn't have any time left to waste. He needed to talk to Reid, and he needed to talk to him _now_.

"He's gone," Reid replied through gritted teeth. He took another swig of his beer. The older profiler was starting to get underneath his skin, and right now his added tension wasn't at all beneficial. He still fingered the locket every once in a while when Rossi wasn't looking just to remind himself that things would turn out alright.

"He's only gone for now, and we both know that by now. He's escaped, and if he loves you like you keep telling me he does, he's gonna find you again." Rossi watched as Reid glared down at his drink. He had been avoiding eye-contact with him all night, and that was starting to make Rossi suspicious. Had the Reaper already came back? Had they broken up? Had they already made plans to meet again? Shaking his head Rossi too reached for his drink and downed it. The whole relationship was fucked up, and he had no idea what the kid had been thinking when he had started the pretentious relationship. Reid was smart- 187 IQ points worth of smart- but it seemed like he had been making some pretty shitty decisions lately.

"I hope he does," the kid muttered underneath his breath. It hadn't gone unnoticed by Rossi, but he decided not to comment on it. 'So that's what's bothering him,' Rossi mused to himself. 'Reid's insecure-not because he doesn't want me to know that Foyet's coming back, but rather he _doesn't _know if he is.' For a brief moment Rossi actually felt bad for the kid, but then he realized he felt bad because Reid didn't know if the Reaper was coming back. Now he was pissed.

"How could you love him, Reid?" Rossi asked, exasperated. "After everything he's done, all the people he's hurt- hell, all your _friends _he hurt….?" He shook his head in disgust. The whole situation was repulsive and unbelievable, but the fact that it was Reid who he was talking to somehow made it seem like it was magnified ten-times worse than it probably was. No one had thought that the kid could even fall in love or date someone, and not only did Rossi now realize that Reid was very capable of that but that he was also capable of falling for _who _he had.

"You act like I had a choice," Reid grumbled. "Like I can just control my emotions like that. You of all people should know that I… I just can't, and no one else can either," he sighed, obviously losing reserve. He didn't want to yell and argue; he wanted to get whatever Rossi was looking for out of the way so he could figure out what Foyet wanted him to do.

"You didn't have to act on your emotions, Reid, and to be frank this is one of the few times I wish you hadn't." He waited for the waiter to refill his drink before continuing. "Good God, Reid! We're talking about you pursuing a relationship with the _Reaper_!" he shouted in a whisper, careful not to cue on-lookers in about what their conversation was about.

"His name is George Foyet," Reid reminded with the glare. "And what's your point?"

"My point?" Rossi scoffed. "My point is that he's a murderer, and you're an FBI agent." He paused to take a gulp from his drink. "And you're not just any FBI agent- you're and FBI agent on the team who was assigned The Reaper case."

"Don't do that Rossi," Reid warned. "Don't bring this back to our jobs. You're pissy about it because Foyet hurt Morgan and outsmarted us. When we're together, we don't bring our jobs into it. It's purely about _us_, no one else-"

"You're being naïve," Rossi argued. "How could you think that your jobs wouldn't eventually tear you two apart? How could you assume that what you just said was the solid truth? We both know it's not, and it's time you've stopped pretending," Rossi hissed.

"I'm not being naïve," Reid glared. "I know that it'll effect us, but we're at least trying to make an effort to make this work. I love Foyet, and he loves me. It's going to be tough, but we _will _make this work," Reid said, hoping he sounded more confident than he felt.

"What I'm more concerned about," Rossi started quietly, "is that you haven't really realized what exactly you're doing. You've been flying through this relationship on autopilot, Reid, and don't try to tell me otherwise. It's obvious to everyone, and it's going to catch up to you eventually." Rossi sighed as he slammed his empty shot glass down again. He looked up at Reid sincerely and waited until the other man caught his attention before continuing. "I don't believe that you've thought this all the way through. You may love him- that I won't doubt- and he may love you, but I don't think you're emotionally ready for this. You haven't been in that many serious relationships- you're too young and too dedicated to the job to have. To top that off, you're talking about a _serial killer_ boyfriend. He's going to end up hurting you either intentionally or not, and when he leaves again, you may never see him again. What if we catch him? What if someone else catches him? There's too much at stake for you to keep this up. If anyone finds out that you two are together, your career will more than likely be over, and you may even be put in jail! I think you deserve better than that, and deep down I honestly think that you're starting to doubt this whole relationship yourself."

Spencer's eye-contact with Rossi was slowly lost as the man finished talking. He knew that Rossi was right, but how could he give up? He had worked too hard with Foyet to make things work to give up now, but the man's speech was enough to have his doubts resurfaced for the night. "Damn it," he muttered under his breath. Running a hand through his hair, he nodded and finally looked up at Rossi again. "I'll…_reconsider _what you said," he settled on.

"Damn it Reid, I didn't come here to have you 'reconsider' this," Rossi huffed, throwing down his napkin. "I came here to make you realize how fucked up this whole thing is! I'm your friend, alright? I'm trying to help you here. What you're doing is going to hurt you, and I don't want to see you hurt again. Why can't you see how bad this is- why can't you understand that this isn't _right_? Foyet's a murderer, and he _will _hurt you." Rossi emphasized the last words with care, watching as Reid reacted in anger.

"I know what I'm doing Rossi! I'm a grown man now, and I can make decisions on my own!" Reid snarled back. He stood up and forced his bar stool back underneath the counter. Rossi immediately jumped to his feet and followed him out. "Leave me alone!" Reid hissed when Rossi grabbed at his wrists.

"I'm not letting you leave like that," Rossi growled. "You're more drunk than I am and you're pissed off. I don't see how that could possibly end in your favor." He let go of Reid's wrists when the younger agent started squirming. He didn't want to make Reid even more mad than he had already, so he decided it would be best to let them go. "At least let me drive you home," he sighed.

"No thanks," Reid spat as he started walking out of the bar. "I'll take my chances on the subway."

~* DWTD *~

George Foyet repacked his duffel bag as John hovered over him. "You never leave this early," the Brit mused. "What's got you leaving my safety so soon? I mean, you just broke out of federal jail. The whole FBI's probably looking for you now!"

"Not that your little safety net isn't cozy and homey, but I have a…an obligation that I have to attend to," he sighed. As he zipped up his bag, John watched over him like a hawk again. Foyet's alli frowned as the older man forcefully threw his bag over his shoulder. When Foyet looked up, he realized that John was smiling.

"What is it?" he asked.

"What's her name?" John smirked. "And don't deny you're with someone! It's the only reason any of us leave our 'safe harbor' when we're on the run. Must be someone pretty special, eh?"

"Uh…yes, they are very special to me," Foyet nodded as he finished up his packing. "And his name is Spencer."

"His? Huh- I suppose I'm not surprised," John shrugged. "Do you love him?"

Foyet rolled his eyes; John was always good company when he was feeling down. He was always humorous and light-hearted, but sometimes he was just too open. Knowing that John wouldn't say anything to anyone, he decided to finally be honest to someone about Spencer. "Yeah, I do love him, and he loves me."

"Then you both know how dangerous it is to be him right now, right?" he asked, raising his eyebrow.

"Unfortunately so," Foyet sighed.

"Tell him I'm here for him," John nodded. "And if you ever need to hide 'em from anyone, I'm your man."

"Thanks John," Foyet smiled sincerely. "I will keep that in mind."

"Good…So when can I meet him?"

Smirking, Foyet replied, "Don't give your hopes up." Foyet watched John laugh before heading to the door. "Thanks for the place to stay, but now I have to go find Spencer." He hesitated at the door, though, and he waited just long enough to make John suspicious.

"What's wrong?" John asked as he made his way closer to Foyet. "What can I help with?"

"Do you still have that, um, _contact _with the subway?" Foyet looked at his watch and realized that he was right on time to ask; Reid had told him he'd be headed home from wherever he went with Rossi about ten minutes ago, and he had also let it slip that he was taking the subway.

"Yeah, why?" John asked, but he did so with a grin on his face. Without waiting for a reply, the Brit reached for his coat and headed out the door behind Foyet.


	13. The Policies

**I had three chapters of this story already made when BAM! 'Windows cannot start up.' And I lost all my documents and still cannot turn it on. Once more I am drifting between technologies, so please bear with me. Because I am peeved, this will be a combination of those three chapters smooched together. I know this has affected my reviewers- as I only get two if lucky anymore- but I can't blame you. Things suck on this end!**

**Deal with the Devil- ****The Policies**

_"No thanks," Reid spat as he started walking out of the bar. "I'll take my chances on the subway."_

That wasn't good enough for Rossi, obviously. When the younger man slammed the door shut and bolted from the bar, Rossi threw down an adequate amount of money down before he ran after Reid. Not to his surprise, Reid was heading to the subway. Sighing, Rossi prepared himself for the steep stairs and hoped that he would catch him in time.

Spencer Reid huffed as he blew past the subway sign and jogged down the stairs. He knew that Rossi had been right, but he had also known all of the information before Rossi had pointed it all out for him. When it was Rossi speaking them, though, they seemed more real, more dangerous. "Damn it!" Reid cursed. With Foyet escaping jail and obviously trying to re-find him, Spencer had found himself with a lot to think about concerning their relationship. It was unconventional, sure, but Reid had been more than willing to take the chance at an abnormal relationship. He was being irrational, Spencer knew, but he didn't give a fuck anymore. For once Spencer decided to give into his twisted desires and his less than accurate instinct. All his life he had lived otherwise, but now it was time to prove to himself that he could in fact push what was expected of him aside and just be himself…And tonight was finally the night that he'd test that theory.

Unfortunately, two things completely shattered his newfound self-confidence. The first factor was the pair of hands pulling him from behind into a subway, and the second was Rossi's voice screaming out his name. A few seconds later things started to focus again, and Spencer was finally able to piece together what was happening…A little too late, though.

"What the hell?" Rossi hissed as Spencer grinned sloppily and then proceeded to throw himself on the Reaper. Foyet embraced his lover's touch while motioning for the two FBI agents to sit down. "Who's driving the subway?" Rossi glared at Foyet.

"He's a friend of mine," Foyet replied, mimicking Rossi's glare, "and that's all you need to know about him."

"Right, of course," Rossi mumbled sarcastically. Then he turned his attention to Spencer while making his worry evident to everyone that was currently on the subway- which only consisted of Spencer, Foyet, and Foyet's friend, really. Foyet caught eyes with Rossi for a moment, and Rossi swore that something like sadness had passed the criminal's hardened features. Almost instantly the contact was lost and Foyet was back to petting Spencer. Unsure what to do, the older profile just sighed and looked out the window of the subway. 'Fantastic view,' he thought dryly to himself. 'Well, better than staring at 'them',' the voice in the back of his head muttered.

"He's asleep," Foyet breathed as he placed Spencer against the subway wall. When Foyet stood up from his seat, though, Rossi's hand immediately reached for his gun. The killer smirked before revealing the knife concealed on his waist.

"Fair enough," Rossi nodded as he dropped his reach on his gun. The killer took the open seat next to Rossi before taking out his knife and throwing it on the table placed in front of them. Within seconds Rossi's own gun was diagonal to Foyet's weapon of choice. "So this is how it ends," Rossi said. It wasn't a question, but it wasn't exactly a statement. He watched a grin pass Foyet's features with intense worry, but soon enough it demolished when Foyet nodded toward Spencer.

"He's the only common link that we share that won't make us feel the urge to tear each other apart," Foyet started quietly, "well, at least I think it's enough to keep us from tearing each other to shreds right now. You know I love him, and I know that you will never accept that."

"Then what is the point in all this?" Rossi asked. "Why are you trying to explain yourself?"

"I'm not doing this for me," Foyet said, shaking his head. "I'm doing this for Spencer, and I think you should too." The Reaper then took out a suspiciously jewelry-sized box with an embellished finish on it. He slid it across the mini-table and motioned for Rossi to look inside. He didn't need to open it to know what it was though, so Rossi just slid it back with a slight heave.

"Don't do this, Foyet," Rossi warned. "Don't drag me into this relationship." Rossi's temper suddenly faltered, though, and it was replaced with a sudden sense of sympathy. "You like him?" Rossi started in a hushed voice. "Fine, then give him the ring. But if you love him- if you really _love _him- then you won't do this to him. Who will it benefit, Foyet? _Will _it even benefit anyone? You cant promise to be here for him, because you don't even know where you will be a week from now. You will die before him, and are you ready to leave him behind hurt and confused?"

Foyet stared down at the box. The older man watched with the corner of his eye as the profiler stared down at him intensely. He picked up the box and flipped it open and close again. With a sigh Foyet finally looked up at Rossi with a grimace. Seeing that the man was still undecided, Rossi leaned closer to him and gave him his undivided attention. "Have you ever stopped to consider how long you have left with him?" Rossi watched as an unacquainted anger seemed to take control of him again. He quickly leaped to his feet, and Rossi too stood up. With an unnecessary intensity Rossi examined Foyet's every movement until he finally reached Spencer. With a slight edge Foyet picked Spencer up and started walking toward the door. Just then the subway train stopped, and after the door opened, the driver seemed to have disappeared. "To answer your question," Foyet hissed as he made his way out, "I think about it every fucking day." Without a second's pause he was out the door with Spencer bridal-style over his shoulders.

Rossi sat back down and muttered a few cusses before a new driver walked in. Momentarily confused Rossi met eyes with the driver.

"Getting off?" the brown-haired conductor asked.

"Yeah, I suppose you could say that."

~* DWTD *~

When Spencer woke up he was in an unfamiliar bed with too familiar arms holding him tightly. He was nursing a headache with an edge when Foyet rolled over to face him. What he had expected to hear him say was somewhere along the lines of, 'what the hell happened with Rossi', or even something like, 'we need to stop meeting like this.' What he heard instead was, "Why do you always call me Foyet?"

"Excuse me?" Spencer frowned. Maybe his alcohol-aided headache had caused him to mishear what his lover had asked him, because his question wasn't currently registering with his head.

"I call you Spencer,' Foyet shrugged. "You call me Foyet. I just find it…_strange_."

"Um, I don't know," Spencer frowned. Deep down he knew the true reason why, though. It was that profiler's instinct that wouldn't leave him alone, wouldn't let him forget those things that even people with an eidetic memory were allowed to forget. It was a sure sign of insecurity and fear of growing too close to someone. It was the constant guard for the unconventional relationship to keep him safe and to keep him from getting hurt.

Apparently it wasn't working, though.

"It just…bothers me, I suppose," Foyet sighed.

"I'm sorry," Spencer said with a yawn. "I've just always called you Foyet, you know…"

"And 'Foyet' is associated with the Reaper," Foyet frowned. Spencer opened his mouth to talk, but he shook his head to halt him. "I'd rather talk to you about something else," Foyet sighed. From the sound of his voice, Spencer knew that it was going to be an unpleasant conversation.

"Sure," Spencer nodded despite himself. "What-what's on your mind?"

Foyet sighed as he turned his attention to Spencer. With one hand he fingered the ring in his pocket and with the other he pet his still slightly buzzed lover's hair. No matter what he had to say, it could wait. Right now wasn't the time to talk about anything serious. No, he wanted Spencer well and ready when they talked. Right now didn't seem to be that time.

Spencer seemed to have other plans, however.

"Tell me, Foyet," he frowned. "Tell me what's wrong."

Foyet only nodded in response. He wanted to, sure, but it really wasn't time yet. So instead Foyet just nodded his head and whispered, "Tomorrow. Why don't we sleep now?"

Apparently Spencer agreed, because Spencer was already sleeping by the time Foyet could place his head on his pillow.

~* DWTD *~

It was too early to yell, but for some ungodly reason that was when the yelling always seemed to start. It was always about something seemingly meaningless or seemingly confusing to an outside observer, but for the people fighting it could make or break their relationship.

Right now it seemed like it was going to be a 'break'.

"Where is this coming from, Foyet?" Spencer hissed. "What is this all about?" When Foyet didn't respond, Spencer glared back and shouted, "Are you trying to scare me? It's not working! I love you, damn it, and I'm not going anywhere-"

"You should be scared!" Foyet yelled over him. "You shouldn't be with me, Spencer. It's not natural- it's not….." Foyet groaned before turning back to Spencer.

"No, you didn't start this conversation 'I won't be here tomorrow morning' for no particular reason, Foyet. You're trying to protect me from what you do, but it's not working and it's not necessary. I know what you do, and I've known that for a while now-"

"Spencer, I'm hurting Hotch!" Foyet shouted. "How could you possibly be okay with this?"

"See, now you're confusing me," Spencer laughed humorlessly. "You keep moving from, 'I'm leaving' to 'I'm hurting your family' then to 'How could you love me!' and the obvious 'this relationship is fucked up'!" Unfortunately, every single one of those facts had been established since Day One of their relationship… Well, after the whole Foyet-John connection had been made. "Foyet, _please_, just tell me what the hell this is really about!"

"What this is really about?" Foyet steamed. "This is really about an FBI agent and a criminal coming together while said criminal is out to destroy said FBI agent's team! That even aside, Spencer! Do you know how easily I could accidentally hurt you?" he screamed. "How easily I could just snap one day!" Foyet suddenly snapped his fist into the wall opposite of Spencer's face, but the younger man didn't even blink. Once the air was more clear and the anger had diffused just a bit, he continued.

"I don't give a damn about all that," Spencer reiterated. "When you told me who you were, I was willing to take the risk of being hurt by you, and I still am. The real question, Foyet- the only question remaining- is whether or not you can accept that."

Foyet froze in his spot. He hadn't expected the situation to turn around to him, but now that it had he felt stupid for not realizing earlier that it would. Sighing, Foyet turned his full and undivided attention to Spencer who stood in waiting for an answer. "All I know is that I love you, Spencer, but after that I have no idea what will happen."

Spencer deflated; he leaned up against Foyet's wall and took a deep breath. "So what happens next?" he moaned desperately.

Foyet too sighed and placed himself on the wall opposite of Spencer. "I suppose," Foyet started, "we wait and see what happens."

And that was when Spencer's cell phone started ringing.

"Well, I suppose we won't be waiting too long," Spencer mused.

"What makes you say that?" Foyet asked, though he was almost positive he already knew that answer.

Spencer flipped his phone open and revealed the flashing lettters 'Incoming Call….HOTCH.' Biting his lip, Spencer said, "We have a case."


	14. Completion

**Deal** **with the Devil-Completion**

**2 Days Later..**

It was a pig farm. A damn pig farm!

The case had ended as bloody as it sounded, and when the team finally landed no one was in the mood to do anything. Physically and emotionally exhausted, Spencer picked up his case files- and a few of his teammate's, he dully noted- and started off to work. Once he finished the first case file, Spencer noticed a post-it note on his white board. Frowning, he read it to himself:

'It's time. I'm so sorry.

-Dark Eyes'

Spencer gulped before crumbling the paper up. He knew what it meant, but he just wasn't ready to face the reality of it yet. Instead he threw it away and forcefully wrote out his reports. While he wrote Spencer tried not to think about the horrific pig farm or the dead victims or even the paper he had just thrown away. When he finished a few hours later, Spencer went straight to his apartment and didn't bother thinking anything of the fact that Foyet wasn't there.

~* DWTD *~

Foyet had had an unfair advantage since day one, and that advantage was named 'Spencer'. Right now it proved to be an advantage because Spencer was gone and he now knew where Aaron Hotchner lived. A few minutes earlier Spencer had called to say that his boss would be coming early though he would be late himself, so now Foyet walked down the apartment building stairs with Aaron Hotchner's apartment building in mind. The next part was going to be too easy, Foyet knew, but he could deal with that considering how hard it had been to plan out the whole charade. Throwing his engine in motion, Foyet couldn't help but think of Spencer. He knew that he had to risk losing Spencer's trust to get the job done, and he had in fact warned his lover…Sighing, he decided to deal with it when the shit hit the fan.

Right now, Foyet had work to do.

~* DWTD *~

Spencer Reid was starting to become paranoid. Aaron was over two hours late for work, and he was normally two hours early for work. Deep down he knew what was about to happen, but for the sake of his sanity he had decided to pretend that he was clueless.

"Spence, we have a case," JJ grimaced from behind him.

"Alright," Spencer nodded. He watched as JJ walked away from him and then turned his head to Prentiss. "Have…have you seen Hotch yet?" he asked nervously.

Prentiss frowned for a minute before too becoming concerned. "Huh, I don't think I have," she admitted. "Could there have been an emergency with Jack or something…?"

"It's always a possibility," Spencer nodded.

"Well, here," she mumbled as she stood from her desk. She jogged over to Spencer and whipped out here cell phone. Putting it on speaker she dialed Hotch's number.

"_Sorry, I can't come to the phone right now…" _

Spencer bit his lip in fear as he watched Prentiss pocket her phone out of the corner of his eye. "Well, it might be in the other room," Spencer suggested half-heartedly.

"You're probably right- as usual," Prentiss nodded. By the expression on her face, though, Spencer could tell she had believed it just as much as he had. Apparently deciding to ignore it for the moment, Prentiss stood up and straightened her shirt. "Uh, you coming?" she asked distractedly.

"Yeah, of course."

~* DWTD *~

Foyet was right-it was just too easy. With care and precision the criminal jimmied the locked apartment door and shuck off to the back hallway. He settled himself down as he mentally prepared himself for 'the hunt.' While he waited for Aaron to return home he let his eyes wander around the walls. He examined the certificates and pictures placed neatly against the brownish-red wallpaper, thinking them as silent reminders of what he was about to do.

Then, seconds later, Foyet heard the door knob jiggle. He couldn't help the smile from creeping up on his face as he brought out his gun and waited for the door to shut again. Attentively he listened to every sound made and searched for the one the signaled that Aaron's guard was done. He took the sound of liquid hitting a cup to be just that.

"You should've took that deal," he sneered.

Then, he waited for Aaron to turn around before he let out the first bullet.

~* DWTD *~

Spencer Reid was in pain, and that was an understatement. He cursed at himself for being as stupid as to try and save Dr. Barton from the bullet. Sure, he had been successful and probably saved his life, but being shot hurt like hell…

"I'm fine, go to him! I'm fine!" He quickly shoved off the doctor's attempts to help him. Worse damage had been done to the UnSub than it had been done to him. Spencer didn't even have time to think before some of his team mates rolled up in SUVs and police-issued cars. Cursing for what he had to say to them next, Spencer squinted his eyes and tried to regain concentration.

"Spence! Are you alright?" JJ asked as she ran over to the scene.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Spencer gasped out, watching as Morgan secured his gun.

"We're gonna get you to a hospital kid; hang in there," Morgan said once the gun was away. Spencer resisted the urge to reach up and slap him for the comment, though. Although he was sure Morgan meant it reassuringly, it had come across blatantly sarcastic and unhelpful. Then, Spencer took a deep breath and tried to muster up the courage to tell the team about what Prentiss had told him while he was inside the Barton household.

"What is it?" Rossi finally asked.

"We need to call Emily," Spencer replied as he added pressure to the wound. "Something's happened to Hotch,."

~* DWTD *~

Aaron Hothcner was in the hospital, thanks to Foyet. The mastermind was now driving a fast and as far as he could without risking being pulled over by a cop for speeding or blowing a red light. Glancing at the radio clock he silently wondered if Spencer's team had figured out what exactly was going on. Deep down Foyet knew that they would at least very soon know what he had done to Hotch, but for some reason he just couldn't believe it yet. It had all been too easy; there had to be some sort of flaw in his planning- there always was! So the criminal passed the interstate the caution, his mind only somewhat letting him be happy for finally completing his goal: hurting Aaron Hotchner.


	15. Time to Dance

**Deal with the Devil- It's Time to Dance**

Spencer Reid's head was spinning. Everything had been happening just way too quickly and he was only now comprehending all those changes. As of the moment only the following was clear: Foyet loved him, but he had just hurt someone he considered family, and he planned on hurting said person even more. 'I wonder if this happened in that Twilight novel Garcia keeps wanting me to read,' he silently mused. Sighing he turned his head in the hospital bed and tried to figure out what the hell he should do next.

A knocking sound on the door efficiently stopped him from thinking, though. He blinked his eyes a few more times before he managed to focus on the figure that had walked in the room. "Rossi," he breathed out, waiting for the older man to say something. The older profiler seemed to catch on to Spencer's wishes, so he sighed and closed the door tight behind him. That couldn't have been a good sign even on a normal day.

"You've got yourself in a shitload of trouble, haven't you?" Rossi asked sarcastically.

"Rossi, I-" Spencer croaked out, but Rossi effectively stopped him by just talking over him.

"I warned you about this," Rossi groaned. "I told you that he'd hurt us, and deep down you knew too. Don't tell me what he did to Hotch. Just take care of it, Reid, before I have to do it myself." Before Reid could respond again, Rossi threw something down at Reid. "Be more careful about where you wear that," Rossi scoffed. "It's not the type of relationship you advertise."

"What now Rossi?" Reid sighed. "What are we supposed to do?" He suddenly felt very drowsy, and what little focus he had was slowly being torn to shreds. When Rossi caught on to the effects the drugs were having on him, he merely shook his head and started walking away.

"We do absolutely nothing."

~* DWTD *~

Aaron Hotchner woke up and immediately started to worry. Just before passing out he had overheard Prentiss asking Morgan how Reid was doing, but he hadn't been aware there was something wrong with him. His own injuries set aside, Hotch sat up a bit straighter in the bed and watched as Rossi came tumbling in the room.

"What happened to Reid?" the unit chief asked as the door closed behind his friend as he walked in the room. "And you better have not gotten me anything, especially a card. Garcia's glittery, door-sized one and the six-dozen roses were enough," he huffed in annoyance.

"Yeah, I told her you wouldn't appreciate it," Rossi smirked. "And what do you mean?" he added with a frown, feigning puzzlement. If Hotch hadn't known the older man for years, Aaron would've almost bought it. Almost.

"What happened?" Aaron asked again.

"He's fine now," Rossi sighed, obviously rendering it useless to fight him off. "Reid didn't want to tell you, but you do deserve to know."

"Rossi, just say it," Hotch breathed, exasperated. He wasn't in the mood for games; he wanted to know what had happened to his agent.

"He was shot on the case," Rossi finally said. "It was in the leg, but he's fine now."

"Damn it," Hotch huffed under his breath. Now the team would be down not one but two agents for an extended period of time. And the could hardly afford to lose one…

"You should be more worried about yourself, though," Rossi reminded. "I can guarantee you that you were hurt more than he was." Rossi could tell that Aaron was about to argue with him, so he stopped him just like he had done to Reid just minutes earlier. "We can talk later, Aaron. Right now you have to concentrate on healing. If you want back at the BAU soon, then you'll just have to deal with resting for a little while. "

"I know," Aaron nodded with a sigh. "It's just….I didn't think that Foyet would be able to-"

"Excuse me," a nurse interrupted at the door. "Visiting time is over. You'll have to go home, sir."

"Right, of course," Rossi nodded. He watched the nurse leave before he turned back to Aaron. "I'll be back tomorrow; in the meantime try not to think," he sighed.

"I bet you told Reid that too," Hotch muttered. Rossi had to smirk at that, because he had in fact practically told Reid just the opposite. Hotch didn't need to know that, though- not yet anyways. So he just nodded his head and scoffed out a grin.

And as he walked out he held his tongue with great caution.

~* Two Weeks Later *~

George Foyet threw his keys, his phone, and his wallet into the river as he walked passed it. His 'goal' was finally set in place, but he still didn't feel as great as he thought that he once would. What he was doing was hurting Spencer, and wasn't okay with him anymore. Unfortunately, he was a sick, twisted person, and he just couldn't stop himself now that he was finally started. Besides, Spencer and himself had decided to keep work and play separate. Now he could only hope Spencer meant it when he had said it all those months ago.

"Excuse me sir," a voice called from behind him. Whipping his head around he turned to see who was calling after him. A small smile graced his face for a moment, but seconds later it disappeared. "What the hell!" Foyet exclaimed as he ran up to the slender man harboring two matching crutches. "What happened?"

"I was shot," Spencer sighed as Foyet immediately threw his hand around Spencer's small waist.

"Well, I doubt your doctor said that you should go for a stroll around DC alone to help it," Foyet muttered under his breath.

"He never said it specifically," Spencer counteracted. Foyet only rolled his eyes before continuing to help Spencer stand up with his crutches again. As Spencer became resituated on his crutches, Foyet couldn't help but glance at the necklace his lover had around his neck. Smiling Foyet realized it was the same pendent that he had given him before disappearing. The smile quickly faded as he processed the full meaning of that statement. 'Before disappearing,' Foyer repeated sadly. He suddenly wondered when the next time he'd seen Spencer and think the same thing again. 'Before disappearing, before disappearing, before disappearing…'

"Foyet, I missed you," Spencer sighed, breaking Foyet's strain of thought. Smiling sadly Foyet nodded and gave his lover a partial hug. "Yeah, I missed you too," he nodded.

For a while longer an almost comfortable silence flittered through the air. Foyet sighed a few minutes later, though, effectively breaking the silence. "Spencer, let's talk about this-"

"No," Spencer said too calmly. "I'm done talking about this…this…." Though his voice trailed off toward the end, his words had the effect that Spencer had been hoping for.

And suddenly the fact that Foyet and Spencer were on opposing sides of the law didn't matter. Neither did the team of profilers hunting Foyet or the possible target that Foyet could easily have painted of Spencer's back. It didn't matter how badly Foyet had hurt Spencer and his friends, because at that very moment in time Foyet realized how Spencer was keeping up the façade of their relationship. Spencer truly was keeping business and play separate, no matter how hard or how painful it was for him, because he truly loved him. Foyet knew that was the best he would ever come to as a conclusion over how they made the relationship work, one because he would never fully understand Spencer, and two because he would never have the time to. Despite his better judgment Foyet decided to follow Spencer's charade and keep going the way they were- the way that a couple that was about to be split up only could. Discussing the matter would cause so much heartache and take too much time. His time with Spencer was limited, so he intended to fill those moments with the best memories his lover could possibly have.

"Come on, Spencer," Foyet said with that sad smile of his, "let's get you home."

~* DWTD *~

Aaron Hotchner pulled his go-bag behind his back as Rossi opened the passenger-side door. He had finally been released from the hospital- under tight instructions, though, one of which being that he couldn't drive for a while. So now Rossi and Aaron started the fairly short drive to Aaron's house, where the healing process would begin. While they drove an obvious silence set in, and the scenes all around both of them seemed just too surreal to be true in anything other than a dream. Rossi pretended not to notice the way Hotch looked up at him every once in a while, looking torn between confused and distrusting- distrusting because his friend of too many god-awful years was clearly hiding something from him, and confused because it was Rossi who was doing it. In exchange Hotch pretended not to notice the suspicious and surreptitious demeanor that Rossi had had the last few weeks- pretended not to be hurt by the actions and the phrases he had chose to say to him. Sooner than either of them realized the car stopped. Rossi threw the car into 'park' and sighed, resting his head back and relaxing for a moment. Aaron mimicked the action and waited for Rossi to give him the silent signal that it was safe for him to leave. When that signal didn't come, however, he just sighed again and said, "So this is how it's gonna be, huh? All these secrets, all this hurt…?"

"Yeah, Aaron. That's exactly how it's gonna be," Rossi mumbled. If Hotch didn't know that something wasn't up before, the way Rossi spoke with the silent pain of a solider and the woes of a loyal man confirmed it.

"Well, if you're going to continue this whole fucking charade, at least have the decency to take me to a bar and get me terribly drunk so I can lie to myself tomorrow that I imagined up this whole thing. We're still friends, anyways… aren't we?"

"Yeah Aaron," Rossi cursed as he sat up straight and turned his key again. Then, throwing a stupid-ass card that he had once promised Aaron he hadn't bough, he added, "we're good friends."

And Aaron could only smirk a little at that.


	16. Things Change

**I apologize for the long wait, if anyone is still even reading. It's been hell here lately, and inspiration and my will to write have all-but vanished.**

**Deal with the Devil- Things Change**

It was all going too well- that had been his first clue. The second was how clingy Foyet had become. As if those two weren't enough, Foyet asking Spencer to take some time off 'so they could talk about things' was the last clue Spence needed before Foyet actually declared his actions. Foyet was about to finish off his plans, and he was going to do it sooner and bloodier than Spencer had originally thought. And in case that wasn't enough, Foyet soon confirmed his suspicions by sitting him down in his own apartment- a place that Spencer rarely got the pleasure of visiting- and said, "We need to talk."

"Okay," Spencer nodded. "What about?"

"Hotch,"

~* DWTD *~

Aaron Hotchner could feeling something changing, sensed the sudden sense of urgency in the air. Sure, summer was approaching and the air was getting warmer, but something else was coming in with the warm weather, and he wasn't exactly positive it was a good thing. He pushed the feeling away, though, because he knew he shouldn't be worrying about anything other than 'healing' and preparing to go back to work. It was bad enough that he was still beyond terrified of whatever Rossi was hiding from him, and it didn't help that he had a sneaky hunch that it interloped with his youngest agent, too. In the meantime, he at least had more time with Jack, and that was enough to keep him optimistic.

"Daddy!" his son suddenly screamed in delight. "What's for breakfast?" Within seconds Jack was seated up on the countertop eagerly waiting to help with making the food.

"Hmm," Hotch mused with a slight smirk in his tone, "how about…Pancakes!"

"I love pancakes!" Jack squealed in delight. Happily the toddler jumped from the counter and reached the other side so he could start gathering ingredients from the fridge.

"Alright," Hotch chuckled, "let's make some pancakes!"

~* DWTD *~

Spencer bit his lip to keep himself from screaming. He was being unreasonable, he knew, but to be frank, so was Foyet. The story that his lover was telling him was too horribly close to home from him to process fully, because he knew if he did everything would change. Spencer wasn't ready for change, wasn't ready to let Foyet- or his team- go.

"Foyet stop," Spencer interrupted about half way through the older man's speech. "I…I don't want to know. You've said yourself that the less I know I better. I wanna…I want to enforce that from now on," he sighed.

"You don't want to know what I'm going to do," Foyet mumbled. At first, the criminal was shocked. Spencer had once told him that he wanted to know everything that he would do involving his team, but he was backing out of it now. That wasn't a good sign. Foyet just nodded, though. He wasn't yet ready to think about the true meaning behind his lover's actions- to be honest, he wasn't sure he ever would be. So he just sighed and feigned a smile. "Sure, Spencer," he nodded. "I'll do whatever you say."

~* About a month later: After witness protection* *~

A month later, everything changed. Aaron and Spencer were finally back at work, the team had been given a new case, and Foyet had 'disappeared'. Of course he had done so with careful warning to Spencer, but it still didn't prepare him for what the criminal was planning.

Less than a week after his return to the BAU, Spencer Reid's worst fears came to life.

"We know how to find Foyet."

The smile on JJ's face as she said the words faded as Hotch entered the room. The rest of the BAU agents froze as a silent panic filled Spencer and a false hope overwhelmed the rest of them. Inwardly shaking Spencer stepped up to the plate and broke the silence. If he was going to keep up his little charade, he'd have to at least attempt to act like himself. "How…How can I help?"

~* A Few Hours Later *~

Haley Hotchner completely stilled herself. She hadn't been expecting the call, nor was she prepared to deal with the consequences of it. Taking a deep breath she grabbed hold of her son and pretended to stay strong. Their position under witness protection had been compromised; Foyet knew where they were. "All….Alright," she sighed. "I'll do just that…Thank you." After hanging up she immediately threw her cell phone away and smiled down at her son. "Ready to go, Jack? We can start making lunch at home…"

"Yeah!" the toddler cheered. "I'm hungry!"

"Okay," she laughed nervously, tossing her short hair back a little. "Let's get going."

~* DWTD *~

George Foyet flashed the security guard a brilliant smile before easily passing by the house that Haley and Jack were staying in. Walking away from the premises his grin grew devilishly large. He was going to finish off his plans, but in the meantime he had some other business to attend. The criminal whipped out his cell phone and dialed the number he had come to know by heart over the last few months. Quietly praying that the man on the other end would answer, Foyet closed his eyes and thought about what he should say. His good mood suddenly faltered, because he only then realized that it would be the last time he'd ever speak to his lover again- that is, permitting Spencer answered…

"Hello?" the voice on the other end replied. Foyet's heart skipped a beat, and he was almost positive Spencer realized what his call was about. "This is it, isn't it?" Spencer sighed sadly.

"Yeah Spence, this is it," he nodded. Foyet rubbed a hand over his face in attempt to calm his nerves. Unfortunately, it didn't help. "I hope you never miss me, Spencer. I hope you-"

"Shut up, Foyet," Spencer sighed in defeat. The whispered tone of his voice made Foyet realize that he was probably working and couldn't stay on long, so he did as he was told and listened as intensely as he possibly could. "This is the last time I will ever get to talk to you; I don't want to remember it as your final attempt to get me to forget you. I want to remember it for the reasons why I fell in love with you. So come on Foyet, say it. Say how much you love me one last time."

Foyet bit his lip. His emotions were beginning to get the best of him, and that wasn't something he could afford to let happen anymore. So he nodded to himself and even allowed a foreign chuckle to escape his lips. "Alright Spencer," he whispered, "alright." For one moment the criminal forgot about everything horrible he had done. For one precious moment it was just him and Spencer and the few memories they had been allowed to share together. Foyet grew quiet as he thought about Spencer and himself talking about children over a picnic in the park, ice skating in the rink when no one else was to be found, laughing and talking the night away after an extremely rough day. And for one small minute Foyet was happy, but sooner or later reality set in and he had to carry on about his way.

"I love you, Spencer Reid," Foyet whispered.

"I love you, George," came back the hushed reply. Foyet's body completely stilled; in the months he had known Spencer he had never called him George. Spencer had been just as afraid of being hurt as he was himself, and calling him Foyet had always been a way for Spencer to remain in control. But he had called him George- a more intimate surname that was only earned when a certain amount of trust and understanding had been reached. So Foyet did the only thing he knew left to do, knowing that their time was running so short, anyways. He took the phone back to his ear and whispered as quietly as he could, "I'll miss you," with tears rolling down his eyes.

"I'll miss you too, Foyet. I'm sorry, I…I have to go," the voice cracked, tears obviously swelling down his own eyes.

After that no goodbyes were said. No last minute confessions, no stories swapped, no intimate declarations of love. After that, the only sound that could be heard was the barely audible click of two cell phones being hung up.

And as George Foyet walked down the street on that sunny day, and as Spencer Reid worked to catch his lover and lead him to his ultimate demise, the sun became a bit less brighter. The air became a smidge more difficult to breathe in, and the roads became that much more longer to travel upon.

Then, as those same connections were made and those longer distance was covered, the world finally went to hell….

If only just for the day.

**A/N: *Jumps a month forward when Haley and Jack go under witness protection for the sake of keeping the story timeline the same. Also, do you guys want me to show the aftermath of Foyet's death and how some of the team stumbles upon the knowledge of the relationship?**


	17. All Good Things Shall Perish

**A/N: Does anyone have a link to the deleted scene from 'In Name and Blood' where Spencer and Morgan are in the bathroom and talk about Gideon…?**

**Deal with the Devil- All Good Things Shall Perish**

Spencer Reid had almost overlooked it- almost. The note had been delivered straight to his desk, and immediately he knew who it was. The brown-eyed agent quickly read over the short note before promptly tearing it up and throwing it away. It was from Foyet, and if he was right, on the note was the location and the time of where his last kill would be. Something inside Spencer begged him to forget it, knowing that Aaron would surely not let him survive if he got his hands on him. The more rational side, however, screamed at him to fake some shitty little equation stating where and when Foyet would kill. Torn between loyalties Spencer sighed and closed his eyes. He loved Foyet, but he loved his team too. The note could possibly save someone's life. Enough people had been killed, enough families ruined. Something inside Spencer changed at that moment, and with that change came the sickening feeling of guilt. He gave into his own wants, his own desires. Now his whole team was hurt and Foyet wasn't planning on stopping there. Sighing, Spencer took out a pen and started off to work.

~* Two Days Later *~

George Foyet once swore to himself that he'd never have any regrets in life. He would live however he would chose, and no matter how foolish he had acted, he would move on the next day with a clean slate. The promise had been made too many tears ago, though, and as he stared down death with his devilish grin he realized that was far from true. As the sound of sirens from a distance echoed their warning call that they were coming closer and as he scrambled down the stairways with Haley Hotchner, he realized he had too many regrets to count. He had hurt everyone that he had once cared about- he had become a monster.

The sudden sound of his phone ringing halted him, though. A devilish grin crossed his features as he pulled out the phone knowing exactly who was on the other end. "So nice to hear from you, Hotch."

"Leave them out of this; it's me you-"

"You broke our deal, Aaron. You tried tracking me down," Foyet scoffed.

"_I _broke the deal," Hotch hissed. "Not them! Don't make them punish for my mistakes."

"That's not how the game works," Foyet smirked as he pulled out his knife. Haley gasped back a cry in attempt to be strong for her son. She knew he was already scared; she didn't need to intensify his fear. Jack grabbed on to his mother's hand as he frowned, obviously unsure of what was happening.

Foyet listened to Haley's obvious distress and Aaron's pleas and threats with a strange sense of disappointment. The big win wasn't as thrilling, wasn't as exhilarating as he had once thought it would be. The villain sighed in irritation as he tried to push his feelings away and overcome a sense of something like deflation. Of course he felt guilty for what he was doing, but greater than that was his urge to slit Haley's throat and scream at Hotch to come and get him. Instead, he settled for the somewhat else dramatic, "Any last words for Haley?"

"Jack?" Aaron said instead.

"Yeah daddy?" Jack said in that small voice of his.

"Why don't you help me work the case? Can you do that?"

"I can," Jack replied, though the lack of enthusiasm in his voice made Aaron realize that Jack knew something was about to happen.

"Do…Do you remember how to do that?"

"Yeah daddy. I'll go do that now."

"Thanks, Jack. I…I love you," Aaron whispered. He could hear the sound of his son's footsteps as they hobbled up the stairs, and only then did he turn his attention back over to Haley and Foyet.

"Tell him how we met, Aaron," Haley said softly. "Tell him about how you use to smile and laugh, tell him about love."

"Of course, Haley," Aaron replied tearfully.

Before any other words could be said, the sound of Haley's screaming filled the room.

~* Two Hours Earlier *~

"Good work, Reid," Hotch mumbled as he ran out of the room. The rest of the team followed their leader as they darted out to the vehicles and off to Haley and Jack. Spencer, still using a cane to walk with, stayed behind. The young man sighed with guilt as he threw himself down into a chair. All the pieces of the puzzle had miraculously fallen together at the very last minute, just as Foyet had planned it. Although Spencer was still doubting whether of not the team would be too later or if Foyet had tricked him so that the team would come far too late to save anyone, Spencer did feel a bit more confident that whatever had been what was what needed to be done.

"Spence!" JJ called from the doorway. "I had to wait to get an officer's okay on some search warrant issues," she said exasperatedly. "I know you're supposed to stay here, but do you want to head down to the scene with me?"

Of course Spencer didn't, but he couldn't tell her that without alerting her that something was wrong. So Spencer just nodded his head and whispered a weak 'of course'. Then, he quickly got to his feet and hurried to catch up with JJ….

All the while fearing that he'd witness Foyet's death.

~* Four Hours Later *~

Aaron Hotchner had been found beating the hell out of Foyet in the most literal sense possible. Each brutal punch pushed the criminal closer and closer to death, but of course Foyet didn't go down without a fight. The two alpha males breezed back and forth past each other until they were finally tumbling down the stairs and back into the living room of the house.

"So is this how it ends, Aaron?" Foyet scoffed. "Is this how your months of obsessing over finding me and killing me ends?"

"This is all I need," Aaron hissed back. "I'm not you; I'll settle for killing you any way I can." Suddenly the FBI jumped and sent Foyet straddling the air until his landed dead center on the glass table. Wiping glass and blood away from his face took too much time, and because of it Aaron gained an upper hand. Ruthlessly he pinned Foyet down and pounded again and again. "You sick bastard!" Aaron screamed at him. "This is for my wife!" Aaron punched Foyet straight in the stomach, sending the criminal reeling back and killing his self-defense. Suddnenly the Reaper just smiled at Foyet and let out an almost tortured laugh. "Congrads Aaron," Foyet said with his last few breaths, "you lose."

By the time Morgan came in the house Aaron was beating a dead Foyet up with every last bit of strength left in him. Immediately the younger agent pulled Aaron off him, screaming at him that Foyet was dead. Aaron only stopped when Rossi darted into the room, and only then did he too collapse in the other two men's hold. Shortly after Prentiss entered the room but almost immediately left again, pulling her cell phone out as she did so.

JJ and Spencer frowned as they brushed past Prentiss to enter the final scene of Foyet's life. Together they walked in just in time to see a slightly less bloody Hotch run up the stairs to get his son. JJ closed her eyes and shook her head before making her way over to Morgan and Rossi to see what exactly had happened. Spencer, however, remained frozen in his spot. Only for a moment did his eyes glance at Foyet, because that was all he could bare to take in. With all his strength he stood tall and unashamed, holding back every bit of resentment and sadness as his eyes locked with Rossi's. The older profile merely shook his head at Spencer before turning his attention back to JJ and Morgan.

The minutes ticked away, but yet nothing seemed to happen. The BAU team had all become silenced as they waited for their boss to come back down and for Foyet's dead body to be carried away. Soon enough both things happened, and only then was the silence broken.

"Well," Spencer whispered with a lump in his throat, "I guess this is the end."

"Yeah kid," Morgan nodded sadly. "For now, anyways."

"This isn't the end," Rossi shook his head. "All good things come to an end. And this? This isn't good." Rossi's eyes scrolled over everyone's features before settling on Reid's uncharacteristically quiet and still stance. "This is just the beginning."


	18. Sleight of Hand

**A/N: This is where things start to become more canon.**

**Deal with the Devil- Sleight of Hand**

Before anyone could comprehend it the BAU team somehow managed to end up back in the offices of the BAU. Together they waited for Aaron and his son to come join them, each one of them in the mean time having more than enough thoughts to occupy their time.

David Rossi held down his feelings of disdain and disappointment at what Spencer had down to the team, had done to Haley. The older profiler also couldn't help but feel sorry for the younger man, because he honestly didn't believe that he had fallen in love with Foyet- he couldn't believe it. He didn't know what exactly was going on with their team's youngest agent, but he knew that Foyet had done something to…_influence _the way he thought of Foyet. Rossi suddenly thought of the day he had followed Reid out of the bar. Foyet's friend had been there, and if he remembered that night correctly, that same 'friend' seemed just as concerned as he did. Letting out a sigh Rossi made a mental note to find this friend again; he had a few questions for him.

Derek Morgan tried to think about anything other than what had just happened. Knowing damn well that there would be consequences to what had happened and understanding they wouldn't be in the team's favor, he knew that he was going to have to step up his game- if only for the team. He would have to be there for each and every one of them, and if he did anything less than that he'd never be able to forgive himself. In the meantime, though, he thought about Ellie Spicer. He thought about how happy he had been able to make the poor child and how she had smiled at him just before she left. It was moments like that that made it all worth it, and suddenly Morgan just leaned back in his chair and relaxed. Those moments were very rare in their line of work, but they did exist. While he waited for his team to return to normal, he'd just have to hold on to as many of those moments as absolutely possible.

Emily Prentiss could hardly wrap her mind around what had happened. Everything seemed to be falling apart, and she wasn't sure if she could pick up the pieces this time. Her ability to compartmentalize had been compromised, and to be honest she wasn't so sure she wanted to, though. She wanted to feel sad; she wanted to feel how her friends were feeling. They were in the whole charade together, and they should end that way too. So she held her head up high and took a deep, slow breath. Everything would be alright-at least, that's what she kept telling herself.

Penelope Garcia was the only team member openly weeping. The young tech let her tears roll down freely as he broken family huddled together in waiting. None of them should be where they currently were; JJ should be with her son, Morgan with his dog, David with his laptop trying to get out a new story. Prentiss should be with her eating ice cream and giggling over some chick flick, Hotch with his son, and Spencer with his books. None of them should be waiting with their hearts on their sleeves for any bit of good news they could get their hands on- but here they were. Finally here tears ran dry, though, and she immediately started to regain control over herself. Aaron and Jack had survived, and that should be all that mattered at the moment. So she took a deep breath and prepared her cheery self to shine and bring just a little more joy into the Hotchner men's lives…At least that was what she had been aiming for.

Spencer Reid had never felt guilt so strong or so crippling as he did right now. As his eyes wandered from team member to team member, friend to friend, he realized just how stupid he had been. He loved Foyet, no doubt, but he knew since day one what his lover was capable of doing. Now, Foyet dead and his little family broken, he knew for sure that he had made the wrong decision. Quickly Spencer blinked back tears and waited impatiently for Aaron and Jack to come in. At that same moment he knew that he'd do everything in his power to make up to Haley what he had down. Nothing he would do could fully pay his debt to her, but he could at least try.

JJ 's eyes never stopped searching her friends for any tell-tale signs of a breakdown. Once she had been told about Haley's unfortunate passing she had mentally prepared herself to help her friends any way possible. So her eyes scanned around furiously as a furry of emotion fled over her own heart. She ignored it, though, because she could tell that someone was about to break down into tears at any given moment.

Suddenly, she saw what she had been looking for.

Spencer Reid had been too quiet, too still. Finally, he broke down into tears and seemed to almost collapse into himself. JJ rushed over to her friend and threw her arms around him, fighting back tears of her own. 'It'll be okay, Spence. It'll all be alright…."

The sudden feeling of a hand on her shoulder made JJ jump. Immediately she looked up to see a saddened Rossi wordlessly pleading with her to go away. She nodded in understanding before sitting back down again, her eyes glued to Spencer and Rossi.

"You made a mistake," Rossi whispered in his ear. "Don't think I'm not pissed at you, but don't you dare think I blame you for this. He would have gotten Haley with or without you. I honestly don't believe you could have prevented this." Rossi lowered himself down to Reid's height and forced the younger profiler to look at him. He forced Reid's hands down and held them firmly, watching as tears openly fell from his eyes. "You can't fix this," he said barely loud enough for Spencer to even hear, "because it wasn't yours to fix. He tricked you into loving him and used you. You're just as much as a victim as Haley was. We'll get through this, alright? It's going to be painful, yes, but we'll manage. Just don't try to do this on your own this time, though, because it's not going to happen. You need to trust me- trust me like you trusted him. We will figure this out."

Just then a door opened behind them, and Aaron walked into the room with Jack in his arms. Rossi darted back to his seat as Spencer wiped at his tears, knowing that it was going to be a long and painful night. The entire room was silenced as the two males stared down at the entire team. Spencer spun around in his seat as tears streamed down his cheeks; his eyes locked with Jack's. The young toddler frowned as he looked from the sad agent to his sad father, and suddenly he tugged on Aaron's sleeve to be let down. Reluctantly Aaron did so and rushed over to Spencer. In the meantime, Morgan pushed in his chair and made his way to Aaron. The rest of the team remained perfectly still as if none of them were quite sure what they were supposed to do.

"We'll make it through this, Hotch," Morgan quietly said. "I'm willing do to anything possible to make this as easy for you as possible."

"Thanks Morgan," Aaron replied with a sigh. "I just might have to take you up on that offer." With that the two men sat down on any open chair they could find near the round table and watched in silence as Jack whispered in Reid's ear. Of course everyone wondered what the boy was saying, but everyone knew too well that they couldn't afford to pry- not yet, anyways.

Jack Hotchner stared up at Spencer Reid with wide, earnest eyes. "What is it, Henry?" Spencer finally dared asked.

"Will you help my daddy?" he whispered in Spencer's ear. "I know you're sad my mommy's dead, and if you didn't care about my daddy you wouldn't be sad. So will you, Spessey? I think he-he needs you right now."

Spencer's heart broke as the toddler waited for him to reply. Blinking back tears again he nodded, because that was all he was able to do. "Of course, Jack," he whispered, the words coming out choked and unclear, "I'll….I'll help."

"Good," Jack nodded, obviously trying to imitate his father's business-like approval. Spencer smiled sadly at the thought before turning back to the boy- turning back to his family.

'Oh my god,' he thought with horror to himself. 'What have I done?'


	19. Moving On

**A/N: Technical details were Googled and found from watching reruns of House MD, so chances are it isn't 100% accurate. -Finally over 2,000 words again!**

**Deal with the Devil- Moving On**

~* Two Weeks Later *~

"I'm so glad you could make it, David," the man said with a less than happy expression.

"I had no other choice, John," David Rossi sighed as he sat down opposite of the criminal.

The call had came in four days earlier. At first Rossi was going to let it go to voicemail, but something had stopped him. Reluctantly he had accepted the in-coming call and now he was sure glad he hadn't just waited. He had taken a gamble and decided to meet the caller because he had mentioned three key words- Foyet, Reid, and answers. It was all that Rossi had been looking for, because the pieces of the Foyet-Reid puzzle just weren't adding up. There weren't enough connections for Rossi to be satisfied with how Reid had fallen in love with Foyet. Reid was a smart man, and although he was without a doubt not very well connected with his emotions, Rossi knew for sure that his intellectual side was too strong for Reid to give into the desire to stay with Foyet. So Rossi immediately planned a meeting with the man- under the condition he told him his name. Once the name was said and his relation to Foyet explained, Rossi had smiled and said, "I knew you sounded familiar. I'll meet you Thursday at the place we first met."

So here David was, sitting across from the real John Miles in the subway while waiting for him to spit out what he knew.

"Foyet used my name to trick Reid," John finally started. "I didn't tell him he could."

"Is that why you're helping me?" Rossi asked cautiously.

"No- at least, it's not the most important point," the Brit grinned. "He's been using my name for years because it's trustworthy…and he's never been very creative with things like that." Rossi couldn't help but smile at that too. "Foyet hasn't only been using my name for years, but he's been using me _period_. He made me a criminal, David, and I want out of this shit now." John rolled a hand over his hair as he tried to regain control over his anger. Finally, he seemed to do just that and continued on his speech. "I liked your friend, and Foyet took advantage of him. Sure, he's a criminal and so was I, but using Spencer wasn't necessary. He could've killed Haley without hurting him, and that's pissing me off, and…" John stopped and leaned in closer to the profiler so the by-passers couldn't hear them. "And I figured out why he did it, and more importantly, how he did it."

"Alright, John, you've caught my interest," Rossi nodded. "But before we continue, tell me why I should trust a word you say."

"I was afraid that you'd say that," John sighed. The younger man fidgeted with something in his pocket as if trying to decide whether or not to show it to the FBI agent. A look of defeat suddenly crossed his face, and he took his hand out of his pocket. "I….He…." he started stumbling out. John shook his head and tried starting over. "Just know that he ruined my career by playing stupid games and throwing my name around with him. He got me fired so he could use my resources for his own personal…._business_."

"Were you and Foyet friends before that?" Rossi frowned.

"Yeah, I guess you could call us that," he huffed. "We grew up together under the same…well let's just say _rough _conditions. We bonded, sure, but we wanted different things."

"So you were a cop, huh?" Rossi mused. "That must've made your dad proud," he added sarcastically.

"Well he never knew," John sighed. "He died before I even joined the academy. It…It was better that way, though. It would've never worked out- him knowing, that is." Suddenly deflected John pretended to perk up in his seat, obviously ready to move on. "So you wanna know what Foyet did to your boy?"

"It would be appreciated, yes," Rossi nodded.

"Well, sit back," John smiled as he did just that, "because it's a long story."

~* DWTD *~

Spencer Reid stared down at Haley's grave with a grim face and bucketful of regrets. Looking around Spencer realized there was no one else in sight. 'Good,' he thought to himself. 'This something I need to do alone.' Gingerly he sat himself down on the floor, careful not to bend his still injured leg the wrong way. Once he was on the ground he stilled himself, trying to keep himself from completely breaking down.

"I…I brought you this, Haley. I know it's a little too little and far too late, but-but I didn't know what else to do." Spencer then took the purple hyacinth he had kept in his hand and laid it down across the grave. "It means I'm sorry," he laughed humorlessly. "I know you can't forgive me- that you can't come over to me and say it's all okay- but I had to say it. I had to say I'm sorry."

He leaned carefully against the tree next to the grave and closed his eyes. Blinking back tears he realized how stupid crying really was. Haley would have died without him- that much he was sure. But he had known all along that Foyet had planned on hurting Hotch. He should have warned him! He should have told him that he had a bad dream or something and that his boss had been hurt in it. Maybe it would have made a difference if he had voiced what he had known. Maybe Haley would be alive and well, playing with her son. Maybe he wouldn't be sitting on his boss's dead wife's grave thinking of all the things he regretted with Foyet…

Maybe, maybe, maybe.

If Spencer was being completely honest with himself, he'd be able to see how sick he was of hearing that damned word echoing through his mind. He had fallen in love with a serial killer, and if what he knew of love was true, you can't chose who you fall in love with. Overall the time he spent with Foyet had been the best memories he had ever had. He had learned so much about himself, so much about the world he lived in. The death of his lover had been a horrible lesson for him, but he was glad that he had been taught it.

"You can't chose who you fall in love with, Haley," he whispered softly, "But….But at the very least, you can pretend to fall in love."

~* DWTD *~

"I've heard long stories before, son," Rossi said in a serious and almost demeaning tone. "Would you please just spit it out already?"

"Foyet loved Spencer- there's no doubt in my mind about that. However, I do doubt if Spencer loved him back," John said in a hush-hush tone, being mindful that they were surrounded by people.

"What do you mean, John?" Rossi frowned. In reply John wordlessly took a pill bottle from his pocket and placed in on the small table that separated them. Rossi immediately took the bottle in his hands and examined the label on it:

'Miles, John.  
06-11 code description.  
Take one pill a day as directed.  
30 tablets.'

The profiler turned the orange-tinted tube over to see the name of it. He flipped it one more time and almost immediately the name popped out at him. Confusion turned to shock which promptly turned to anger. He had been right all along- Foyet had tricked them all. "So Foyet gave him oxytocin, huh?" Rossi mumbled as he shook his head. "I guess their love was fake after all."

"Your boy's careful, David. It's the only explanation as to why their relationship worked. I know that Foyet tricked Spencer with my name in the beginning, and I think he did that for so long because the prescription was being filled at the time." John took the bottle and pointed to the date. "See? That's about the time your team was in Boston, right? I doubt Foyet followed the boy all the way there, so I think he told him who he was after he got him to take the pill."

"How do you think he gave it to him?" Rossi mused. It's not what he wanted to say, but it was a valid question that would cover until he drew a conclusion for himself. The date wasn't adding up, because John wasn't right. Foyet had followed the team to Boston, and he had told Spencer who he was when they were there.

"Knowing Foyet as well I do, I think he crushed it up in the kid's coffee or something," John said with a slight shrugs. "Foyet got creative when it came to drugging people, so he might've thought a bit more outside the box, though…"

John's words faded off, though, because Rossi realized something he wished that he hadn't.

He found out about Foyet and Reid the day they caught Foyet. At the restaurant- McDonald's, he believed- Spencer didn't want him to see who he was hiding food from, and later the same night he had met 'John'. But John had been Foyet, and now- _now_- Rossi was positive Spencer had fallen for the Reaper before he had been drugged.

"I'd say you don't know him like I do- that you don't know what he's capable of. He's not just a killer, Rossi. He's a human being," Reid said. "But that's not good enough for a profiler," he sighed. "That's not an answer that you're willing to accept."

The words came flooding back to Rossi all of a sudden, and everything he knew thus far pointed to Foyet and Spencer actually being in love at one point or another. 'He must've drugged Reid so that he could get away from it all. He wanted to believe that Reid didn't really love him back, because it would hurt him too much once he went through with what he had been planning to do…..'

"So what do we do now, David?" John sighed from his seat. "What happens next?"

"Spencer can't know this. It'll hurt him too much," Rossi replied. "So we fake a letter in Foyet's handwriting so he thinks it was all a lie the whole time. It's cruel, yes, but it's the only way he'll move on."

"I agree," John nodded, "but we don't have to fake a letter."

"Why not?"

"Because I still have the letter Foyet gave me after he got me fired from the force." John then produced a small piece of paper from the book he had brought with him. "I never leave home without it," he explained. "This little note ruined my whole damned life. It's- it's been hard for me to let it go." He passed it off to Rossi, he smiled forcefully as he read it. "Think it'll work?"

"Yeah, it's perfect."

~* DWTD *~

"I loved him, Haley. I truly did. He was a monster, sure. He hurt my family- he hurt you," Spencer continued on. "I suppose you know a bit about falling in love with someone whose job comes between you. It sucks- it really does."

Suddenly Spencer stopped talking. It didn't feel right to complain to a dead woman about the 'loving' relationship that killed her. His mind was completely boggled, anyways, and he was finding it extremely hard to concentrate on one thing for more than a few minutes.

"I-I don't know what's going to happen next, Haley, but I'm going to make this up to you- I swear to it. You died because of Foyet, but I won't let Aaron give up. I'll make sure he'll be able to be there for Jack and not let him bury himself in work. I'll make it up to you. God, I swear I'll make it right."

Spencer wiped away a trail of tears from his eyes as tried to regain control of himself. Guilt was an overwhelming thing, though, and he was finding it increasingly difficult to let it all go and just move on. Suddenly his phone started vibrating, and he jumped as he fumbled to answer it.

"H-hello?" he stuttered out.

"_Come back home, Reid_,"Rossi replied from the other end. _"We need to talk."_


	20. And Cruelty for All

**A/N: Once more, all medical stuff was Googled/House MD-ed**

**Deal with the Devil: …And Cruelty for All**

It was a cruel thing to do. It was disconcerting and if David Rossi looked hard enough maybe even a bit illegal. That was okay, though, because at the end of the day more people benefited from the lie than were hurt.

Well, it would save them from future hurt, anyways.

"I'm sorry, Reid," Rossi said quietly. If he spoke any louder he was almost positive that he'd lose it and tell him that Foyet had in fact loved him. 'But what good would that do?' Rossi thought to himself. 'It would only cause the kid and everyone else more hurt and more guilt. We've all been through enough as it is….'

"Foyet- he left you a note for you before he died," John added to the conversation. "It's vague, but I think its point is fairly clear." Reluctantly John handed off the fake letter to Reid knowing damn well that it would crush the kid. It was better than the truth, though- anything was.

Spencer Reid read the letter with a heavy heart and a frown on his face. He knew what it would say before his eyes even met the paper, though. It had become more than obvious to him over the last few weeks that he had been used it the most horrible ways he could ever imagine. He supposed he was lucky to get out as easily and as painfully as he had, but the repercussions of the whole fiasco were as clear as day. Spencer slowly blinked his eyes shut and took a long, deep breath before gently placing the letter on the table in front of him.

"I'm sorry," John frowned. "He played you."

"It's not your fault," Spencer mumbled. "And….And I think I knew deep down that it was all fake. I-I just couldn't leave him, though. I loved Foyet, and I think I still do." Suddenly Spencer stood up from his seat and started walking out of the room.

"Hey, where are you going?" Rossi asked, obviously concerned. Spencer was reacting to the news too calmly. He had expected tears, a temper tantrum even. He hadn't expected the silence and calmness that Spencer was showing, at the very least. Rossi, being the profiler he was, knew that the younger agent was afraid to break down in front of them, though. All his life he had been independent and in control of himself. Help wasn't something he took to very easily.

"I'm going to lay down," Spencer replied just as emotionless. "You guys can stay if you want, but I'll be fine."

Both John and Rossi knew that translated roughly to 'get the hell out'. They seed had been planted; what grew afterwards was nothing that the two older men could control.

"Come on, David," John said, shame and guilt evident in his voice, "let's go home." And as they walked out of the apartment, John picked up the letter and shut the door.

'_It was all fake. I didn't mean any of it.' _

_-Foyet_

~* DWTD *~

The first thing Spencer did once he heard the door shut behind his two guests was start cleaning. He took everything that he could find of Foyet and threw it in a bag. After scurrying around his apartment for twenty minutes and using his oh-so helpful eidetic memory he had approximately forty-eight items that reminded him of or related to Foyet all around his apartment. Those same items laid limply on his bed as he decided what he should do with it all.

Suddenly he lost all self-control that he had managed to keep thus far. Spencer grabbed his cane and raced from his bedroom and into the hall closet. He then grabbed a medium-sized case he kept near the right hand corner of the small, cramped space and hobbled back to his bedroom. Rushing he threw the case open and took out the hammer from the repair kit. Spencer chucked everything breakable to the floor and pushed anything that could be burned in another pile. The rest of Foyet's shit was hurled in a trash bag and violently hurled out the window.

And then he started pounding the breakables into tiny, fine pieces of wasted memories and broken promises. Spencer whacked and whacked and whacked at the breaking items with all his strength.

"I trusted you!" he hissed. "I loved you, and you fucking betrayed me! You hurt everyone I ever cared about and shattered me! You hurt me, George! You hurt _me!" _he screamed. "You tricked me into loving you, and I'll never forgive you!"

But suddenly he stopped. He was just about to destroy something small and shiny that had avoided destruction so far when he realized what it was- the locket that Foyet had given him. Staring at it dumbly he didn't know what to do. He tried to move his hammer down on top of it, but he just could do it.

Finally Spencer broke. The hammer fell to the ground and he collapsed. Breaking down in tears as his body shook his thoughts of anger vanished. All that was left as he cried on the floor of his apartment was sadness and loneliness. Eventually it all became too much to bare, and he passed out into a bliss-less sleep.

~* DWTD*~

David Rossi sat down opposite of John Miles just like he had earlier that same week. The only differences were that they were at a bar instead of a subway and they both felt ten-times worse than they had last time. Drinking from their glasses as the clock ticked ten they remained quiet until Rossi finally spoke up.

"You know, when I first saw Foyet and Reid together Reid was sick. I think that was when Foyer had drugged him."

"Why do you think that?" John asked as he motioned for a refill.

"Well, it's a side effect of the drugs. On the bottle it said that sicknesses like a cold or a flu were possible after the first few uses of it."

"Right, right," John nodded drunkenly. Rossi knew that the younger man had had a few too many, and seeing as the morning was approaching very fast he decided it was time to leave. Standing up he helped John to his feet.

"Come on kid, I'm driving."

~* About a week later *~

Aaron Hotchner sat down with his son, exhausted beyond all belief. Insisting on watching some new superhero movie with Superman and a guy playing Jimmy Olsen who sounded strangely like Reid for some reason. Watching the movie was okay with him as long as he finally got some time with his son again. It didn't happen often enough, and it saddened him that it was only happening now because his wife had been murdered.

And then his phone started ringing. Sighing Aaron fished it out of his pocket and looked at the caller ID. 'Reid,' it read. Jack peered over too, and his face lit up. "Weed never calls you! I wonder what he wants, daddy!"

"Yeah, me too…" Hotch murmured back. Finally he flipped his phone open and accepted the call. "What's up, Reid?"

"Oh, hi Hotch. I just…I just wanted to know if you would be interested in these tickets I got for the museum. They were by one get one free the last few times I went, but they expire soon. I'd love to use them while I'm off work, but I don't want to push it with my cane, you know? So, uhm, I was thinking that you could take Jack there…?"

The fact the Reid sounded nervous as hell didn't go by Hotch unnoticed. It did, however, make him wonder what exactly was going on with him. Knowing better than to pry, though, Hotch just sighed. "Yeah, I'd love the tickets, Reid," he replied politely.

"Okay, great. I-I'll drive them by-"

"No, you shouldn't be driving…or taking the subway, for that matter. We'll swing by tomorrow and pick them up. Okay?"

"That's fine," Reid replied.

"Thank you, Reid." Hotch was about to hang up when Reid started speaking again, this time sounding almost panicked.

"Do you want to come for dinner? I mean, er, that Garcia wants to have a get-together with everyone on the team, and she asked me to invite you."

"Uh, I suppose that'd be fine. When is it?"

"Tonight….And it's at your place."

~*DWTD *~

No words were exchanged. Nothing like 'I'm sorry for your loss,' 'Everything'll be fine', or even the faint 'how is everything going' or uttered. The useless words were left floating in the air, though, and as the team gathered around the Hotchner kitchen table, they realized that they didn't need to be spoken. They were felt, and that was all that mattered. Hotch knew how much the team cared about him, and bringing a delicious dinner to him and his son only reinforced that knowledge.

"I made some cookies," Garcia said, breaking the silence. She turned her head to Jack as she smiled somewhat forcefully. "Would you like some?"

"Can I daddy?" Jack asked, a little pout strategically placed on his face.

"Go ahead," Hotch smiled back.

"I'll help you get them," Garcia grinned as she too stood up. She stopped on her journey, though, and she lowered herself to Hotch's level. "Sir, I can only stall a few minutes; say what you need to now," she whispered.

"Right, thank you," he nodded back. And then she took off.

The rest of the team turned their attention over to their faithful leader. Derek Morgan, Emily Prentiss, David Rossi, JJ Jareau, and Spencer Reid all waited as if the next words uttered out of Aaron Hotchner's mouth would be divine and almighty, as if they would change everything and make it all better again.

They didn't.

"This whole thing is fucked up beyond my control. I can't change anything that happens next, and to be honest I can't even guarantee that anything will happen next. So thank you for the support, really, but just know that I have nothing to give you." And then Aaron placed his badge down on the table and sighed. "It won't protect us anymore. These badges mean nothing. The only protecting us now is ourselves, and we're all going to have to be closer together." Aaron put his badge away and snuck a peek into the kitchen to see how much time he had left. Garcia only nodded as she dished out some milk for Hack, signaling to him that he had to hurry up. "So now there's only one question left for me to ask," he sighed.

"And what's that?" Rossi asked.

"Who wants out?" Hotch mumbled.

A small stretch of silence settled over the agents. Each and every agent knew that they could take the easy way out and just leave the BAU before the storm broke out. But if they were all being honest, they all knew they could never fully get away from their job. No matter how far you traveled, how many times you tried to shake it, the job would always follow them. Once you were in the BAU, you'd never be able to fully back out.

Derek Morgan surveyed the faces of his fellow colleagues, noting that they all shared one similar expression: loyalty. Sure, all of them had gone astray, but they all always came back ready to do whatever it took to make up for it. Then, nodding to himself, Morgan sighed and stood up just a bit straighter. "Sorry, Hotch, you're not getting rid of us that easily."

Then, a ghost of a smile passed by Hotch's face. "Good," was the only response he supplied.

As if on cue Garcia and Jack rejoined the table. "So, what did I miss?" she asked as she noted the smile everyone was suppressing.

"Nothing," Spencer said. "Absolutely nothing."


	21. Guilt is Worse

**Deal with the Devil- Guilt is Worse**

Four months, two weeks, and five days after the death of Haley Hotchner, SSA Dr. Spencer Reid sat at the headstone of her grave with a purple hyacinth spinning in between his fingers. The conversations he had with her had switched from his feelings of guilt and love of Foyet to the condition of her ex-husband and her son. "They're doing better," he told her, "but there's still hurt, obviously. There always will be. Aaron's trying to bury himself in work again, but the team's been really getting on him about that- and Jess, of course. Jack's gotten a little peppier this week. I think having his dad home a little more's helping with that. Ever since Morgan took over as the section chief Aaron's been able to go home a little earlier. Every second counts, I suppose."

Something stopped Reid from continuing. Frowning at the feeling that something- or someone- was watching him, he dropped the flower and started looking around as discreetly as possible. Soon enough he heard the footsteps that accompanied the strange feeling, and Spencer immediately started to get off of the ground.

"What are you doing here?" SSA Aaron Hotchner frowned. Seeing his agent struggle, he decided to help his agent stand before he completely fell on his face. "Thanks," Reid muttered as he regained his balance. Hotch leaned over the grave to fetch Spencer's cane as the younger man hobbled to keep standing upright. Thankfully he took his cane and easily balanced himself out. "You never answered my question," Hotch mumbled as he glanced down at the purple flower. At first he thought Spencer brought it just to be considerate and show some respect, but then he remembered he was talking about Reid- there was always a deeper meaning to everything he did. "What does that flower symbolize?" he questioned instead.

"It's a- a purple hyacinth," Spencer smiled sadly. "It means 'I'm sorry." Hotch frowned down at Spencer before scooting himself closer to his youngest agent. Together they stood in silence on his wife's grave, both of them unsure of how to pursue further conversation. Finally Hotch sighed in the realization that he couldn't avoid talking to Spencer any longer.

"I…I know that you're apart of my team, and you guys are apart of my family and are trying to help me and Jack, but you've been ridden with guilt these last few months, and to be honest I don't know why. You didn't kill Haley, and there's nothing you could've done to prevent it. I know you've probably been told that before, but it's true, Reid." Hotch paused in his speech to give Reid a once-over. His eyes looked swollen, fatigue was evident, and guilt was more than clearly portrayed in his eyes. It was evident to Hotch that his spiel had done nothing to ease the man's pain, so he shook his head and decided to go a different route. "Haley forgives you." With those words Spencer looked up. For some reason he seemed to not have expected Haley's name to come up, at least, not in the way that it had. "For whatever you did, she forgives you."

"H-How do you know?" Spencer asked, his voice small and broken.

"I don't know for sure, but I'm pretty certain," Hotch replied quietly. "You have to learn to live with uncertainty, Reid. Not everything's facts and statistics. It's all not cut and dry.' Reid opened his mouth to talk, but Hotch shook his head and effectively stopped him. "I don't know what you did, and I don't think I want to know-"

"You don't," Spencer whispered gravely, but Aaron chose to ignore him for the moment.

"-but I doubt it'd unforgivable, no matter what it was. Haley was a very forgiving person, and she liked you-she liked the team too."

"You know, that say that grief and hope are the most crippling emotions a person can have," Spencer said, "But I think…I think guilt is worse."

"I know," Hotch whispered. "Trust me, I know."

Suddenly Hotch jumped to his feet and waited for Spencer to do the same. Taking the hint the younger man slowly raised to his feet and used his cane as a support to help him up. Once he was up and ready to go, Hotch put a supportive hand on his shoulder. "Come on, it's time to go home."

~* Five Months Earlier *~

_It had been the first time Spencer Reid had ever been to George Foyet's house. He wasn't too shocked to see that it was very impersonal and just a but too much like a home magazine. All the decorations were placed strategically around the house to match the overall theme of blue and white. Spencer could've sworn he recalled seeing the same sailor-like design in some Better Homes and Gardens Magazine, but he could be wrong, after all._

_"Have a seat, Spencer," Foyet smiled. "Make yourself at home."_

_"You certainly didn't," Spencer couldn't resist snickering back. Foyet too joined in his laughter before throwing off his shoes and sitting down opposite of Spencer._

_"My mother always wanted grandchildren," Spencer suddenly blurted out._

_"And you? Do you want kids?" Foyet asked, a curious tone setting in._

_"Well, yeah, I suppose. I just, I just never found anyone I wanted to have children with before."_

_"Was that a hint?" Foyet almost laughed._

_"Oh, no, no!" Spencer immediately blushed. "I was just…I was just saying…."_

_"Being the boyfriend of a serial killer kind of ruined that for you," Foyet frowned. "There's no way we could ever… well, you know," he sighed._

_"No retirement together, either," Spencer nodded. "No rocking chairs, no white picket fence…."_

_"No 2.5 kids," Foyet smirked. "We weren't meant for that type of life, anyways."_

_"You're right," Spencer agreed. "Besides, a profiler never wholly retires."_

_"Yeah, well, neither do serial killers," Foyet grinned back. Spencer almost laughed at that before he instead laid down on the couch- because of his height laying down on Foyet as he did so. "We certainly are a pair, aren't we?" Foyet asked quietly. "It's almost unreal to me."_

_"Me too," Spencer nodded with a small smile. "Me too…"_

~* Present Day *~

_"This just in, local businessman and ex-cop John Miles has just been reported dead. The young man was on vacation when a severe car crash left in hospital-bound. The crushing blow to his lungs and ribs was just too much for his body to handle. Doctors believe he passed quietly through the night. Now, on a lighter side, gas prices have been dropping very slowly and are allegedly planned to go as low as-"_

"Well I'll be damned," David Rossi mumbled as clicked the television off. "I should've known," he added as he shook his head. Of course he knew that John was dead. Well, John Miles might be, but not the man himself. He was starting over, something Rossi had had the feeling he'd do since the day he first talked to him on the subway. And John deserved a fresh start, too. He had been thrown into a life a crime with written consent, and killing John Miles was his way of getting out of it. Smiling Rossi stood from his couch and headed over to his phone.

He still had business to attend to, anyways.

~* DWTD *~

If someone had told Spencer Reid four months ago that his boss was going to take him for a night on the town he would have laughed in their faces. What a preposterous idea, an obviously incoherent conclusion if one was to base the statistics of such event occurring off of prior knowledge and analysis of the spectrums and the-

Well, people weren't math and science projects, were they? They weren't cut in dry 'this and this will happen and they'll do this and say that'. No, they changed at random and did things spontaneously at times. Like, for example, a very authority-like man experiencing the grieving process taking his employee around town late at night.

"What about Jack?" Spencer frowned. "I thought you'd want to spend time with him…?"

"He's at a sleepover with Jesse," Aaron smiled. "She even let him bring a guest this time. God, I don't know what I'd do without her."

"Yeah, she sounds great," Spencer nodded, obviously still nervous. Eventually a silence fell over them again, making Hotch frown. He had hoped that Spencer would be a bit more talkative, but apparently his luck had run dry. Seeing that he would have to explore the conversation himself he cleared his throat and started off again. "I meant what I said about that whole guilt thing," he restated. "I know that you feel guilty for whatever reason, and I also know it has to do with Foyet."

Spencer's head immediately snapped up, his eyes wide and fearful. "Hotch, I-"

"No, save it Reid," Hotch waved off. "I don't know what exactly happened between you and Foyet, but I've gathered enough clues from Rossi and yourself to know that something did happen." Hotch stopped walking suddenly, and Reid too halted. "Foyet was a serial killer, Reid. Now I'm not supporting nor condoning whatever you did, but that fact has to be established, because whatever he wanted to do or whoever he wanted to kill- he would do it. No one could have stopped him."

Spencer didn't even try to deny anything, because he wasn't sure what he would try to deny. It was clear Hotch though something was going on between himself and the Reaper, but if Hotch knew it had been an actual romance he was more than positive that Hotch wouldn't be as calm as he currently was. So he just kept his mouth shut and waited for him to continue.

"Spencer, you're a smart kid- I mean, I couldn't even begin to compete with you mentally- but you're still human. You need to rest your brain and give yourself a break from all this. You almost never use your vacation time, and whenever you do take a break you read and write essays or whatever for you next BA or-"

"My BA's and doctorates need to be completed before I forget about it all," Spencer ginned. "And besides, that is fun to me."

"Well, you've got a warped idea of fun," Hotch laughed lightly. "….But you should still take some time off."

"Yeah, well, I'll take some time off when you do," Spencer smiled sheepishly.

"Oh, really?" Hotch almost laughed. "Well, I'm working on."

Spencer just blinked for a second before catching on to that Hotch had meant that to be a play on words. "That was a horrible joke."

"I know," Hotch laughed before patting Spencer on the shoulder. "Come on, let's go to a bookstore or something."

"I'd like that," Spencer chuckled back.

~* About Four Months Earlier*~

_Spencer Reid and George Foyet laughed as they unpacked a picnic lunch and laid down a sheet to sit on._

_"I can't believe we're actually doing this," Spencer grinned happily. "I've never done this before, you know?"_

_"Yeah, I'm getting that feeling," Foyet nodded as he passed Spencer a plate. After that the couple lapsed into a silence that was strangely comfortable and settling to them. Together they ate their lunches and didn't worry about the things to come. For once it was just them with no distractions or disturbances. Spencer eventually sat his plate down, though, in exchange for being closer to Foyet. The older man paced his own food down and with a smile on his face. "Mhhm, this is better," Foyet nodded._

_"Much better," Spencer mumbled, obviously content with their positioning._

_"I'll miss memories like these," Foyet let slip out, a frown trying to form on his face._

_"Yeah, well, right now it's not a memory," Spencer replied._

_"Then what is it?"_

_Suddenly Spencer turned around so he could see his lover and give him a quick kiss. "It's real."_

_~*DWTD *~_

**A/N: I hope the flashbacks make sense, as they'll keep going down to about 3 months before, 2 months before, and ect. It looks like there'll only be two more chapters at the very most with an epilogue. Review w/ any questions, comments, or suggestions, and see my profile for what my next two fics will be about. Thanks for sticking in this long. It's been one helluva ride, 'eh? **


	22. Treason

**A/N: Last Chapter, then epilogue. Flashbacks in italics. Thanks for reading. I apologize if the timeline gets a bit screwed up, since I know that Spencer actually wasn't on medical leave during Haley's funeral. In my version he was and is just now going back to the BAU. Please also see my A/N on my profile page. It might be of your interest...**

**Deal with the Devil- Treason **

_Spencer Reid and George Foyet walked through the mall with their hands together. Since Spencer was still on medical leave from the BAU, they had both decided to do as many things together as they possibly could. The first thing they had decided upon was shopping- well, window shopping._

"_Foyet, have you ever had a pet before?" Spencer asked as they passed a pet store. _

"_Do fish count?" Foyet smirked. "I almost always had fish when I was a kid, though I had always wanted a dog. Or even a cat, I suppose." Foyet stopped them from walking further, allowing them to admire the pets from the view of the window. "Why, have you?" _

"_We had a cat once," Spencer nodded. "Let's just say after the first day its charm on my mother died." _

_A silence settled over them as they held hands in front of the pet store, watching as a small dog looked at the sadly from the window. On the other side of the store the cats were being fed, and in the very corner a few select fish swam happily. Spencer could've sworn he even saw a bunny in a cage…_

"_I could see you with a cat," Foyet blurted out. _

"_You could?" Spencer smirked. "What? I'm not manly enough for a dog?" _

"_Precisely," Foyet laughed. Spencer feigned anger, but when Foyet reached over and kissed his forehead, he too broke out into laughter. _

"_Come on, we should probably move on before the employees get suspicious." _

~* Present Day *~

It was his first day back from medical leave, but his leg still hurt like a bitch. Fortunately SSA Dr. Spencer Reid knew that he wasn't going to be expected to do a lot of physical activities anyways. He couldn't kick down a door even before he hurt his leg, so no loss there. Unfortunately now even walking was becoming a hassle, though with the help of his trusty cane at least some of the pressure had been removed.

"Pretty Boy," Morgan grinned as he cornered around the bullpen, "good to see you back." He then took it upon himself to sit on Spencer's desk, effectively stopping any work he had previously been doing in exchange for his undivided attention. Wonderful, Spencer couldn't help but say sarcastically in his thoughts. "So how's the leg?"

"It hurts," Spencer answered in a 'duh' sort of way. "I was shot, remember?"

Morgan threw his hands up in mock defense. "Whoa, easy there. It was just a question."

"Yeah, one with an obvious answer," Spencer mumbled as he yanked a case file out from underneath of Morgan. The older man frowned down at Spencer and took the file from him. "I was working on that," he glared.

"Well, you need to take it easy," Morgan scoffed. "You literally just got back today and you're already shoving paperwork in your face." The older profiler waited expectedly for some sort of reply, but he was never graced with one. So instead Morgan just sighed and went into a position that Spencer had seen too many times before- the 'I'm about to have a serious conversation with you and you better answer me' Derek Morgan pose. It was one of Spencer's least favorite poses.

"Come on kid, talk to me."

"About what?" Spencer glared at him, sick and tired of this 'innocent kid' persona Morgan had seemingly set up for me. "I was just shot, Haley just died, I've been home alone for way too long, and I haven't even been back for an hour and people are trying to get me to talk." The silent 'and my boyfriend, who betrayed me and hurt my team, was just murdered by my boss' was left in the air ,though it was heavily implied in Spencer's mind. "If I were Hotch you wouldn't be doing this! You'd respect his personal space and leave him alone. I'm capable of handling this myself, too. So please, just leave me alone. Is that too much to ask for!"

It was clear from Morgan's reaction that he hadn't been expecting that sort of response. Of course, he had been expecting Spencer to deny anything was wrong, but for the kid to blow up like that? No, it was just too 'un-Reid-like' to sit right with Morgan. Knowing that if he pried to much right now Spencer would close up all together on him, Morgan just nodded his head and jumped off his desk. "Right, sorry Reid." And then he walked away to pretend to get some coffee.

SSA Emily Prentiss frowned from her desk across from Reid's. That reaction was a very bad sign in her opinion, and she had the feeling that more was going on than he was letting on. Reid never liked sharing, though, and Morgan liked trying to get him to. If Emily was being honest, she was shocked Reid hadn't exploded on Morgan sooner. Morgan may have the best intentions in mind but even Emily knew that he pushed too hard sometimes. Sighing she stood up and grabbed a small box from her bag. Emily knew she was tempting fate by approaching a cranky Reid, but she had a feeling that what she had to give him might cheer him up. Coughing when she reached his desk to get his attention she waited for him to look up. Once he did, she smiled in hopes that he'd smile back, which he didn't. "Welcome back, Reid," she smiled.

"Thanks," he replied. "Is there something I can help you with?"

"I have something for you," she smiled a bit wider to him. Placing the white box on his desk she waited for him to open it. Once it was in his hands she added, "I know it's not much, but," she shrugged, "I think you'll appreciate it."

"Starbucks gift card," Spencer almost laughed- _almost_.

"And underneath that..." Emily said in a sing-song voice, urging him to look.

Spencer stopped almost laughing. Instead he fingered the golden pin with a look of awe. "How'd you know?" he mumbled.

"I saw you looking at it in the airport on a case before you were shot. At first I didn't think much of it, but then I saw you look at it again once we left. So I just picked it up when you went to the bathroom," Emily shrugged.

Suddenly Spencer stood up and wrapped his arms around Emily. "Thank you."

"It's nothing, Reid," Emily stuttered back, shocked at his outburst. Reid normally avoided physical contact at all cost, but now he was hugging her. "It's just a gift card and eagle pin…."

"Yeah, I know," Reid laughed nervously. "It's just that….Never mind. Just, thank you," he stuttered as he pulled away.

"Are you okay, Reid?" Prentiss asked as she stopped the hug as well.

"Yes, I'm okay," he replied less than convincingly. "Excuse me, I have um, I have to finish this one case file."

"Yeah, of course," Prentiss mumbled as she watched him walk away. Sighing she too sat down, afraid that she had pushed him too far.

"Hey Emily?" she suddenly heard once she was sitting down.

"What is it Reid?"

"Do you want to go out for coffee after work?" he asked.

Emily sort of smiled as she looked at Spencer from the other side of the 'cubicle', noticing that he was smiling back. "I'd love to, Reid."

"Love to what?" Morgan asked as he reentered the bullpen.

"Nothi-

"Want to join Emily and me for coffee? I'm paying…" Spencer said instead, smiling shyly at Prentiss, knowing that she wouldn't want Morgan knowing the gift card was from her. "The more the merrier, right?"

"Yeah, I suppose so," she smiled back.

"Sweet," Morgan nodded. "So you guys ready to go?"

Emily and Spencer exchanged amused looks before standing up. "Yeah, let's go."

~* DWTD *~

Spencer, Morgan, and Emily sipped their coffees and sat together in an almost comfortable silence. The two older agents were just happy to see Spencer interacting and acting somewhat like himself, something he hadn't been doing lately.

"There's nothing wrong with me," Spencer suddenly mumbled, "so you stop acting like there is."

"Sorry," Prentiss semi-smiled. "I just…It's almost instinct now- to protect the team, that is."

"Yeah kid, we've all been worried about each other lately," Morgan nodded.

"Well, I suppose I haven't been doing anything to help that," Spencer sighed. "It's just been a horrible, horrible year."

"I can drink to that," Prentiss murmured, raising her coffee cup.

"Yeah, cheers," Morgan huffed as he mimicked the action. The three agents 'clinked' their coffee mugs together in a fake celebratory matter.

"Whoa, looks who's here," Morgan suddenly grinned as he pointed to the door. Both Prentiss and Reid turned toward the door and smiled themselves. Garcia, Hotch, JJ, and Rossi all walked into the Starbucks with thin smiles on their faces.

"Come on, join the party," Prentiss smirked.

Then, without further instruction, the BAU team sat down together over something other than a briefing.

~* DWTD *~

A few hours later the team started to separate until only Garcia, Morgan, and Reid were left.

"I'd hate to cut it short, Baby Girl, Pretty Boy," Morgan smirked as he stood up, "but I've got to get home before the dog eats the couch."

"Go feed your boy!" Garcia shooed. "I want Boy Wonder for myself, anyways."

"Thanks Morgan," Spencer pouted, though everyone could tell he was suppressing a smile himself.

"See? Why would I want to share that adorable pout?" Garcia giggled.

"Well, goodnight," Morgan snickered, wavering goodbye as he walked out of the small shop.

Garcia watched as Morgan walked off and away from the shop before turning to back to Reid, a careful frown on her face. Spencer mimicked the frown before sighing. He had been expecting it. "So," Spencer sighed, "what did you want to talk abo-"

"What's going on with you?" Garcia frowned.

Spencer just blinked. How could he tell her? _What _would he tell her? He just shook his head and sighed. He would just tell her what he knew she wanted to hear. "It's…it's been one hell of a year."

"Damn straight," Garcia smiled sadly. "The important thing to remember, though, is the good things that had happened this year. Try not to think about all this…this negativity. With this job, they're the only things that help me move past the terrible things we face."

"I know, Garcia," Spencer whispered. "It's just so hard to sometimes, you know? I just want to…I don't know. Forget, I guess."

"Everything's going to be alright, _Pretty Boy_," Garcia teased lightly. "But when it does get too much to bare, and when you want to forget again, find your Lady G."

"Thanks Garcia; I will," Spencer smiled.

Then, standing up, Garcia beckoned Reid to join with her. "Come on, let's get out of here."

"With pleasure."

~* A few months beforehand *~

"_Spencer, these books are getting heavy! And why do you bother buying them anyways? You can have most of them memorized by the time you get to the checkout lane!" Foyet teased. _

"_But that's not that point," Spencer smiled as he took another book off the shelf. He smirked as he added it to the pile his boyfriend was carrying for him. _

"_Oh really? Then what is the point?" Foyet laughed. _

"_The point is to be able to hold a book and read the words directly off its pages; to wear down the spine and make the pages old and crinkly. If you can't feel it, if you can't have the memory of the feelings you felt when the book was in your hands displayed proudly in your bookcase, why bother? Half the joy of reading is to create memories and feelings that you can pass down. You can't do that if you don't get the books in the first place, though.," Spencer explained as he moved on to what had to be shelf number six, book number twenty-two. _

"_So I take it you're not an Ebook fan?" Foyet couldn't help but joke. _

"_Ebooks are in abomination," Spencer turned around sharply and glared. _

"_If I could I'd put my hands up defensively right now," Foyet smirked. _

_Finally Spencer took one more book and walked toward Foyet, placing a small kiss on his cheek. _

"_Ready to go?" Foyet asked, hope evident in his tone of voice._

"_Yeah," Spencer nodded, "I'm ready." _


	23. The End is Here

**Does anyone want to do a summer kink meme…? Also, LJ will be my main site for the next few weeks.  
****Deal with the Devil- The Epilogue  
****The End is Here**

~* Two Months Later *~

Daniel F. Reed stared himself down in the mirror as he made sure his uniform was clean and wrinkle-free. "My name is Daniel Reed. I come from the sleepy town of Las Vegas," he rehearsed with a slight smirked. "It's nice to meet you, sir." His accent was down pat- slightly Yankee with a bit of southern splash. He didn't stutter as he announced his name nor did he stop to make sure the facts about his life were right. "My mama's in the bakery business and my dad died at war. And you?" Sighing Daniel glanced at his clock. It was time to go. He walked out of his room almost nervously to gather up his things for his first day of work with the DC Police Station. It had been a miracle Daniel had been able to set up his new life after the death of John Miles in time for the job opening. Immediately the police had been impressed with his résumé and hired him in the spot.

Before Daniel left he went to his new living room to turn the television off. He stopped himself, though, when he saw SSAs David Rossi and Jennifer Jareau were seen on the news. His guess was a press conference, but he wasn't quiet sure. He smiled at them before shaking his head. "Wish me luck, guys," he breathed.

And then he walked out the door.

~* DWTD *~

Spencer Reid turned off his shower as he prepared himself for the day. Slowly he found himself getting over Foyet and the guilt he had felt as a result, but those painful feelings still crept up on him every once in a while. He thew on his black shirt and his khakis topped off with his favorite purple scarf, a small security blanket to get him through the painfully long week. The young agent walked into his room to grab his messenger bag and feed his newly-found fish when something caught his eye. Once he realized what it was he sighed and gave into the urge to look at it one more time. He took the locket that Foyet had once given him and opened it. A smile almost graced his face as he saw the picture of him and Foyet. He missed him, sure, but he was still almost relieved that he was gone. Staying with Foyet would have ruined him, that much had become clear to him. His love for Foyet had been an obsession worse than the dilaudid ever had been….

"What's this?" Spencer suddenly found himself saying out loud. He frowned as he noticed the small slit in the photograph, never noticing it before. Carefully he popped it out to see what was underneath. "Oh my god," he whispered.

"_I'm sorry. I still love you." _

The script was without a doubt Foyet's handwriting, but the truth of the words were shallow in Spencer's mind. After all the lies and the hurt Foyet had caused him, how could he believe a word he said? Anger grew inside him and suddenly Spencer felt the overwhelming urge to finally do what he should have done so long ago. After picking up his messenger bag he walked back into the bathroom and popped up the lid to his toilet. He dropped the locket down into the porcelain bowl and pulled the handle to. Spencer was almost shocked when he felt no pity, no sadness at the loss of the necklace. A weight had been lifted from his shoulder, and an era of fresh air seemed to overwhelm him.

The sound of his phone ringing made him jolt up in surprise. Sighing he looked at the LD screen to see that Rossi was texting him. 'Bad case-come ASAP'. Spencer threw the lid to the toilet back down and walked out of the room while texting back 'on my way now.' Then, pocketing his phone, he shut the door to his apartment and walked away.

~* DWTD *~

"So what brings you here, Probie? None of us have ever heard of you before…"

Daniel couldn't help but smile at that. So far his first day of work was going as he had planned.

"There's only two things that bring a single guy to a place like this," a brunette man with a smirk of his face said. "Running away from a gal or running toward a gal." The man, whose badge identified him as 'Sam Whiley', asked. "I ran to and won her too," he added with a grin.

"Sometimes it's better not to know whether or not someone loves you back," Daniel sighed with a small smile.

"And what does that mean?" the blonde asked.

"Wait a few years, kid. You'll get it eventually," Sam laughed.

"Probie!" Daniel heard someone should from behind him. "Come on, we've got a case for ya."

"On it!" he shouted back as he jumped to his feet. "Oh, and Sam?" Daniel called back as he started off toward the office. "Who said it was a girl?"

Sam just laughed and shook his head, watching as the newbie walked off. "I like that kid He'd make a great partner."

"Well, lucky you," the blonde man smiled. "Yours just retired."

"Yeah," Sam smirked, "lucky me."

~* DWTD *~

"Spence, I don't know what you're talking about," JJ frowned. "We don't have a case."

"Rossi called me-"

"And was supposed to tell you that we didn't….Ooh," she suddenly grimaced.

"What is it?" Spencer asked, suddenly alarmed.

"Do you think that wanted to talk to you, Spence?" she suggested. "I don't know what about, but…"

"I think I can take a guess at it," Spencer sighed. "Alright, thanks JJ." He started walking away when she called after him, a look of concern growing on her face. "What is it, JJ?"

"Stay safe, alright? And good luck," she frowned.

"I will," Spencer nodded, "and thanks." The younger agent turned back around and headed off to the BAU parking lot. Once he was outside he looked for the car that was always parked in the same spot.

"Ready, kid?" Rossi asked from his side of the car.

"Am I riding with you or taking my car…?" Of course everyone knew that Spencer barely took his car to work, as he preferred the subway over his raggedy, old truck that Rossi wasn't sure how the kid got to work. Rossi just smirked and hopped in his car, watching as Spencer rolled his eyes and followed suit.

The car ride had been less than pleasant. Besides the awkward silence and the stray looks that Rossi would give Reid and the obvious tension in the air as well as the feeling that whatever was going to happen next would be horrid and embarrassing, the knowledge that the only other person still in contact with Spencer who knew about his relationship with Foyet was sitting in the car next to him. The fact was more than a bit unsettling for Spencer, but he supposed it was also a good thing, as Rossi _was _the only person who knew…

"We're here, kid," Rossi mumbled as he threw his car into 'park'. Together the two profilers shuffled into the Rossi Household and watched as the door shut behind him. They both suddenly felt trapped in the house, and with the door shut they also knew that they could no longer avoid had they had been avoiding for far too long.

"Have a seat," Rossi instructed. Spencer did as he was told. "Want something to drink?"

"No, thank you," Spencer shook his head.

"At least take my food then-"

"I'm not all that hungry-"

"No, you're too skinny," Rossi smirked. "You need some meat on your bones. And besides, it only seems courteous to feed you a nice meal if I'm going to grill you about Foyet."

"What are we having?" Spencer sighed. Already he regretted coming, but he knew that he had held it off for too long as it was. It was time to clear the air about him and Foyet, and it needed to be done now.

"You okay with steak and potatoes?" Rossi replied as he rummaged in his cupboards for the appropriate spices and materials.

"Yeah, that's fine," Spencer nodded back distractedly. "I haven't had steak in a while…."

"I figured," Rossi huffed. "I think there's some green beans in here too. If I can find them we can have those too."

"Do you need some help?" Spencer asked as he stood up.

"No, just sit back and relax. Besides, I thought we could get going on the whole Foyet thing while I cooked," Rossi admitted.

Spencer repositioned himself in his chair uncomfortably. He had ran out of time to stall; he had to tell him about Foyet now. "You know, Garcia told me something the other day…"

"What did she tell you?" Rossi asked, his interest sparking.

"She told me to- to focus on the good things, that it was the only way to get over something…or someone. And- and since I can't do want I really want to- to just forget it all happened and just move on- I want to do that. I want to tell you about the good things that happened because of Foyet." Spencer stood slowly from his spot and moved to the stools closer to the counter where Rossi was. The older man sighed as he placed his pan down on the stove. For a moment he turned his attention to Reid and noticed the sadness in his eyes, but there was also something else. Rossi smiled at that- he hadn't seen that look in Reid's eyes in far too long…

A look of hope.

"Come on, Reid. Tell me the story- the whole story. Tell me about how you fell in love with Foyet."

So Spencer smiled and did just that.

"I never thought that I'd fall in love, at least not a first sight, anyways. But as I stared off at the history aisle of the bookstore, I couldn't help but grin…."

The End.

**A/N: The ending there sound familiar to anyone? Hmm? Thanks for reading everyone; it's been one a great ride. **


End file.
